- Posted by Willam Terek
- on
Raheem Shackleford Released after 21 years of prison time
His story
Raheem Shackleford appealed on March 2, 2012 for dismissing as untimely Appellant’s third petition filed pursuant to the Post-Conviction Relief Act (“PCRA”). See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 9541-46. We affirm. Following a jury trial, Appellant was found guilty of second-degree murder, robbery, possessing an instrument of crime, and criminal conspiracy.
The facts underlying the Appellant’s convictions fairly can be summarized as follows: On October 26, 1997, Appellant, Tyree Wallace, and Matthew Corprew planned an armed robbery for the following day at the Salt & Pepper Deli located at 1640 Ellsworth Street in Philadelphia. Shortly before 10:00 p.m. on Monday, October 27, 1997, Appellant, his two cohorts, and an unidentified female entered the store, purchased an item, and then left. Mr. Kang, the owner of the Salt & Pepper Deli, and one of his employees closed the deli. Mr. Kang was walking toward his car and carrying a paper bag when Appellant and Wallace approached him, beat him, shot and killed him, and took the bag.
After the crime, Corprew confessed to the police that he operated as a lookout for Appellant and Wallace. Van Griffin, the employee that assisted Mr. Kang in closing the store, identified Appellant and Wallace from photo arrays as the men who entered the store just before 10:00 p.m. on October 27, 1997.
James Davis, who lived within blocks of the deli, testified that Appellant and Wallace asked him to participate in the crime. Davis declined the invitation. On the evening of the crime, Davis encountered the three men. Appellant told Davis that he had obtained a shotgun, and proceeded to show a portion of the gun to Davis. A few days after October 27, 1997, Appellant told Davis that they had obtained approximately $100 from the robbery.
Brian Brooks testified at trial that he overheard Corprew and Wallace plan the robbery. After the robbery, Wallace told Brooks that Appellant was the person who fired the shots that killed Mr. Kang.
After being convicted of the crimes listed above, Appellant was sentenced to life in prison on the murder conviction, as well as a consecutive aggregate term of eight to sixteen years in prison on the conspiracy and possessing an instrument of crime convictions.2 On April 17, 2001, we affirmed Appellant’s judgment of sentence in a memorandum decision. See Commonwealth v. Shackleford, 259 EDA 2000, slip op. at 13 (Pa. Super. April 17, 2001).
News Update: He meets his mother and other family members after being released on 14th March 2019. Long relief to the family may god bless them.