4 suspects in deadly Grays Ferry mass shooting can go to trial, judge says
Four people charged in a deadly mass shooting in Grays Ferry last summer were finally in court on Thursday for their preliminary hearing where a judge said there is enough evidence for them to go to trial.
This comes six months after a shooting broke out on the 1500 block of South Etting Street in South Philadelphia on July 7 that killed three men and injured 10 others.
Surveillance video was one of the key pieces of evidence that the prosecution’s expert witness played in court on Thursday.
The Commonwealth arguing that various videos they collected from that night links two of the defendents – Dieve Drumgoole and 17-year-old Brandon Fisher – as well as potentially 15 shooters.
Prosecutors said that they recovered a gun belonging to a third suspect – 21-year-old Daquan Brown – and explained that it was the only firearm recovered that matched ballistic evidence found at the scene.
Prosecutors also said that a fourth man – 22-year-old Terrell Frazier – was on Instagram Live minutes before the shooting broke out.
They explained that he is heard reading a message that he received from someone that read, “We’re gonna come around the block and shoot it up.” To which Frazier allegedly responded by saying, “Come around.”
Attorneys for Frazier and Fisher argued that the Commonwealth failed to link their clients to the shooting.
And, attorneys for Jardine and Brown both argued that their clients fired in self defense and had legal gun permits.
The prosecution said that the block party likely turned into chaos because someone mistook a car backfiring for a gunshot and that’s when friends started firing at each other.
In the end of Thursday’s hearing, the judge decided that all four men can be held for trial on charges of third-degree murder, aggravated assault and recklessly endangering another person.
The judge threw out conspiracy and attempted murder charges.
NBC10 caught up with the mother of Azir Harris who was in a wheelchair and was on the block that night for a cookout when he was killed.
“It’s been hard. I go to my son’s resting place every Saturday or even Sunday and its not a day or a moment inside my home,” Harris’ mother, Debra Richardson, said. “It was painful. It was painful seeing my baby helpless. He was there to just drop off some friends. I didn’t expect that my baby would never come back home to me.”
Two other men are also facing charges in this case and their preliminary hearings are scheduled for a later date.
Timeline of the South Philly mass shooting in July
On Saturday, July 5, around 5 p.m., 100 to 200 people gathered on the 1500 block of South Etting Street for a party that was promoted on social media, Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said during a press conference on Aug. 7, 2025.
When officers arrived at the party to disperse the crowd, some of the attendees jumped on police cars, according to Vanore. Officials said two people were then arrested for assaulting police.
The next night, on Sunday, July 6, the large crowd of 100 to 200 people once again gathered on the 1500 block of South Etting Street for another party, according to Vanore.
Then on Monday, July 7, shortly before 1 a.m., a person attending the party pulled out a gun and fired, possibly in the air, leading other people to pull out guns and fire as well, according to investigators.
Police responded to the shooting and found multiple people suffering from gunshot wounds.
Three of the victims, Zahir Wylie, 23, Jason Rese, 19, and Azir Harris, 24, died from their injuries. Nine other victims, including a 15-year-old girl, two 17-year-old boys, an 18-year-old man, two 19-year-old men, a 21-year-old man, a 23-year-old woman, and a 24-year-old man suffered gunshot wounds. A tenth victim was injured after falling to the ground while running away.
Investigators ultimately determined that 13 separate guns were fired and they collected over 140 pieces of ballistic evidence.
