Background: The intersection of S. 60th and Market Streets in Philadelphia, Pa., near where Imani Ringgold was killed (Google Maps). Inset (left): Imani Ringgold (Facebook). Inset: Hamza Ruley (Philadelphia Police Department).
A Pennsylvania woman who grabbed a bite to eat before she headed home from work was fatally shot by a group of men who were allegedly aiming for someone else, police said.
Hamza Ruley, 24, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the homicide of 20-year-old Imani Ringgold, who was fatally shot on April 7. The Philadelphia Police Department said Ruley was one of three suspects who opened fire on a group of people that day, hitting three innocent bystanders including Ringgold. The other two suspects, 26-year-old Mustafa King and 21-year-old Zarie Manning, are still at large.
Local ABC affiliate WPVI spoke with Ringgold's grandmother, who said she was on the phone with Ringgold, who had just left her job as a home health aide when the alleged shooting happened.
Dietra Bynum told WPVI that she was on the phone with Ringgold "the whole time. She didn't even scream. Her phone dropped, and I just kept calling her name."
WPVI reported that according to Ringgold's aunt, Lynette Ringgold, the young woman was "coming home from work, she stopped to get some pizza. She only started at the job two weeks ago, so she didn't even live in the area. She was just passing through." She told local NBC affiliate WCAU that her niece was getting ready to celebrate her 21st birthday and go traveling.
WCAU reported that the shooting took place at 6:20 p.m. on April 7. Surveillance video captured the moment Ringgold was seen carrying a pizza box and walking down the sidewalk before collapsing to the ground. According to police, the suspects exited a black Mazda SUV and allegedly opened fire at a group of people, hitting Ringgold as well as a 23-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman.
Police said one of the suspects shot Ringgold several more times at point-blank range before getting back into the SUV, which was found abandoned blocks away. Ringgold was reportedly hit in the face, torso, and hip. Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore told WPVI in April, "We believe [the suspects] were firing at people in that crowd, we believe Miss Ringgold wasn't the intended target and an innocent victim in this case."
Ruley was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, conspiracy, possession of a firearm, and several other felonies in connection with all three victims. He remains in custody at the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, where he is being held on $1 million bail. His next court date is scheduled for June 1.