A Philadelphia jury has slammed the cell door on two reputed members of the 6600 gang, convicting them in a string of deadly shootings that prosecutors say left three people dead and five others wounded, including a man who survived after being shot 19 times and left paralyzed. The high-profile trial ended Tuesday with automatic life sentences for 27-year-old Chris Byard and 28-year-old Daquan Bishop, closing a violent chapter that rattled pockets of the city in late 2021 and early 2022.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, jurors found Byard guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, earning him three consecutive life terms. Bishop was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and received two consecutive life sentences. Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, whose office handled the prosecution, tied the men to three killings in just over six weeks: the Nov. 27, 2021, shooting of Angel Rivera, the Dec. 15, 2021, killing of Tymir Johnson and the Jan. 11, 2022, slaying of Rashaan Frazier. Prosecutors told jurors that some of the gunfire targeted a rival crew and that one victim was killed in a tragic case of mistaken identity.
The case grew out of a joint investigation announced in 2023 by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, the ATF and the Philadelphia Police Department. Investigators said they leaned on NIBIN ballistic matches, surveillance footage, cellphone records, social-media analysis and grand-jury work to stitch together scenes scattered across the city. Authorities also pointed to a vehicle that surfaced repeatedly at different crime scenes, a detail they said was crucial in tying the shootings to the same small circle of suspects.
Where the shootings happened and who died
Byard and Bishop were convicted in attacks across parts of Northeast and Northwest Philadelphia that left three young men dead: 24-year-old Angel Rivera, 23-year-old Tymir Johnson and 21-year-old Rashaan Frazier, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Rivera was gunned down on the 500 block of West Duncannon Avenue. Johnson was killed on the 3100 block of Barnett Street. Frazier was shot on the 4000 block of Aldine Street…