In the warm night air of April 13, 2023, neighbors awoke to the crack of gunfire on the 2300 block of West Montgomery Avenue. When medics arrived, 16‑year‑old Nafis Betrand‑Hill—beloved sibling, barber‑school student, and high‑school sophomore—was already lifeless. More than two years later, Philadelphia detectives returned to the same street this past Wednesday, July 9, 2025, to arrest 20‑year‑old Zaakir McClendon, charging him with murder, conspiracy, and a raft of firearms violations.
Investigators found over two dozen shell casings—nine‑millimeter and .40 caliber—scattered across the preschool front sidewalk, evidence, officials say, of multiple shooters . According to the Philadelphia Police Homicide Division, new forensic leads surfaced during a traffic stop in May, where McClendon was reportedly linked to the stolen getaway car and matched by both ballistic and digital evidence.…