PHILADELPHIA — District Attorney Larry Krasner, along with prosecutors, shared alarming details on Wednesday when announcing several cases related to assaults on homeless individuals in Philadelphia.
Dshawn Crawford pleaded guilty to stabbing victims while they slept, killing one of them.
The attack on a survivor was captured on surveillance video.
“He is going to approach and stab one of the homeless people sleeping beneath this tent,” an investigator said as he presented a video during a press conference.
Dshawn Crawford pleaded guilty to stabbing homeless people while they slept, killing one of them.
Prosecutors said the victim in the gruesome video survived after being stabbed 19 times all over his body.
The attacks happened in early 2023 in area of 5th and Huntingdon streets in North Philadelphia, officials said.
Investigators described how Crawford donned a costume resembling the Undertaker wrestler, complete with animal bones attached, and wore the same attire during each stabbing incident.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison, but officials believe he would’ve kept going if he wasn’t caught.
Kranser called Crawford a “budding serial killer.”
“Left on the street for a longer period of time, Dshawn Crawford might well have become known as a serial killer. It’s not a phrase I use lightly,” Krasner said.
Krasner said Crawford showed repetitive characteristics and behavior similar to people who went on to become serial killers.
Krasner also said Crawford came to Philadelphia from North Carolina, and now authorities are looking into whether there could be unsolved crimes there.
Rev Robin Hynicka, of United Methodist Church, spoke during the press conference and echoed the message of condemning ongoing violence against the homeless population.
“Violence against unhoused persons is not new. It’s daily, it’s systemic, it’s relentless,” Hynicka said.
The district attorney’s office also announced charges against 27-year-old Naeem Morgan who was arrested this week.
They said he’s seen in social media video assaulting dozens of people on July 4.
“It does not matter that these victims are not rich,” Krasner said. “It does not matter that they are not connected. It does not matter that they face challenges. You mess with them, we’re coming for you.”
The victims were sleeping outside at 12th and Arch by the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City.
At one point, Morgan could be heard yelling, “Get a job.”
“By the way, all of that ‘get a job’ stuff it is very unclear that Mr. Naeem Morgan has a job,” Krasner said. “He was arrested sleeping on his mother’s couch. So let’s call it what it is you want to bully people, you might be the one humiliated.”
Officials said they’re looking into possible charges for those who were recording the assaults.
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