PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Two men were convicted Wednesday on all charges in the slayings of three people during the robbery of a Philadelphia corner grocery store five years ago.
Jurors deliberated for about 1½ hours Wednesday before convicting 35-year-old Ibrahim Muhammed and 35-year-old Nalik Scott of charges including first degree murder, conspiracy and robbery, The Philadelphia Inquirer (https://bit.ly/2i21gRr) reported.
The two were charged in the September 2011 shootings at Lorena’s Grocery that killed 50-year-old bodega owner Porfiro Nunez, his 49-year-old wife, Carmen, and his 42-year-old sister, Lina Sanchez.
Homicide detectives said nothing was taken from the store. Investigators said the break in the case came by linking Muhammed and Scott to two other bodega robberies that generated tips after surveillance video was released.
Defense attorneys argued police under pressure to close the case arrested the wrong men. They argued that witness descriptions and surveillance footage didn’t match their clients and pointed to two other men as possible suspects. Defense attorneys also said identifications of their clients by the couple’s daughters were mistaken. Muhammad’s attorney argued that a confession by his client was false.
Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega told jurors the defense didn’t present enough evidence on other men and characterized the Nunez sisters’ identifications as unshakable.
“She is seeing death before her,” Vega said. “It’s that face she can’t forget.”
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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, https://www.inquirer.com
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