10, 2017, on the 2100 block of Chelten Avenue, East Germantown and Michael Cousette, 20, on Sept. Details about his role were not available.Īuthorities also charged Blackston with killing Saleem Garland, 26, on June 28, 2011, on the 1700 block of West Juniata Street, Nicetown Gary Wilson, 22, on July 1, 2011, on the 5000 block of Wade Street, Germantown Branden Vincent, 20, on Sept.

A source familiar with the case described it as a drug-related ambush.īlackston also was charged Monday with participating in Freeman’s killing. In April, Rannels was convicted of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting that allegedly precipitated Drinks’ murder: The killing of Kristin Freeman on July 30, 2011, on the 100 block of East Garfield Street in East Germantown. As for the new charges, Perri said he was still reviewing the allegations.

Rannels is among the codefendants in the slaying of Drinks, with prosecutors alleging that they have records of prison phone calls helping to show his involvement.īlackston’s attorney, Fortunato Perri Jr., declined Monday to comment on the open case. In that case, Blackston was arrested last year and charged with fatally shooting 50-year-old Kevin Drinks in December 2011.Īccording to testimony from a preliminary hearing last year, Blackston and three codefendants mistakenly believed that Drinks was willing to testify against Blackston’s friend Chad Rannels, who in September 2011 had been charged with killing a 22-year-old man two months earlier.īlackston and his codefendants allegedly followed Drinks to the 900 block of Watts Street, where Blackston - wearing Muslim female garb in an apparent attempt to conceal his identity - ambushed Drinks and shot him in the left side and lower back. And at least one of Blackston’s new cases is connected to his open murder case, which is scheduled for trial in February. Still, sources familiar with the investigation said Michael Blackston, 29, of the 3900 block of Priscilla Street, was believed to have been a member of a violent drug organization operating in North and Northwest Philadelphia. The Police Department and District Attorney’s Office both declined to elaborate, saying the investigation was ongoing and the grand jury presentment had been sealed.

The details of each case, and any links among them, were not immediately clear Monday. A Nicetown man already awaiting trial in a 2011 murder has been charged with participating in five other killings, three of them within about a month in that year, the other two in the space of 12 days in 2017, authorities said Monday.

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