A 19-year-old man was shot and killed near 52nd and Locust in the latest of a series of violent incidents in that area in the past few weeks.

Police say the unidentified man was shot at about 2:50 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, where he died at about 3:30 p.m.

No arrests have been made and no weapon was recovered, police said.

Two men were shot during separate shootouts near the same intersection three weeks ago. No arrests were made in those shootings.

                         Chaniece Benn

Police are searching for a 20-year-old woman, Chaniece Benn, who vanished after leaving Mercy Hospital, 501 S. 54th St., on early Saturday morning. A resident of the 3800 block of Aspen Street, Benn was last seen around 4 a.m. on Saturday exiting the hospital with an unknown black male. She has cerebral palsy and a diminished mental capacity, according to police.

Benn is five feet, one inch, 130 pounds with a medium build, has brown eyes, a light brown complexion, and straight, black, shoulder length hair. She was wearing a black hooded jacket, khaki pants, and a black shirt and black sneakers with a silver stripe. The man, who was seen leaving the hospital with her (pictured below), is described as five feet, five inches tall, with a medium build and medium complexion. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes.

Anyone with information on this missing person is asked to call the Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183/3184 or dial 911.

Samuel Powel School (photo from greatphillyschools.org).

Great news for a small Powelton Village elementary school students, parents and staff. According to a recently released 2013-2014 Philadelphia school progress report, which measured school performance throughout the year across various dimensions, such as student progress, achievement and school climate, Samuel Powel is ranked the second best elementary school in the district. Anne Frank elementary located in Northeast Philadelphia is the leader among the city’s 61 K-4 schools. Powel School, which is located near 36th and Pearl streets and is led by principal Kimberly Ellerbee, enrolls about 260 students. Check out a recent piece about the school on Philly.com.

As concerns K-8 schools, here are the rankings of some West Philly schools (there are 126 K-8 schools in Philadelphia): Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust) – 6th; Alain Locke (4550 Haverford Ave.) – 88th; Henry C. Lea (4700 Locust St.) – 70th; Samuel B. Huey (5200 Pine St.) – 97th. The city leader in this category is Folks Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School located at 1023 Callowhill St.

To download the reports, visit the Philadelphia School District website.

                   Jasmine Wright

The handyman accused of killing 27-year-old Jasmine Wright in her apartment near 50th and Locust has been held for trial.

James Harris, 56, faces murder and rape charges in the death of Wright, who had recently graduated from a Drexel University graduate program. She had been raped and strangled, according to police. Her body was found on July 15, about 24 hours after she was murdered.

Harris worked in the building but was fired about a week earlier, according to reports. Police say he still had a set of keys to the building, and his fingerprints and DNA were found on the scene.

Harris had 31 prior arrests, police said, including sexual assaults. He was also convicted in 1982 for the murder of his own father. He had been in custody since July 19, when he was detained on suspicion of robbery and trespassing for re-entering the building.

UPDATE: Police identified the victim as 50-year-old Tony Harris. Harris, who worked as an electronics repairman, recently posted on Facebook a photo of his wife holding bundles of cash that he claimed amounted to $60,000, according to reports. Police say it was done as a joke, but may have prompted the attempted robbery and shooting.

Police are looking for three suspects who shot in the head and killed a 50-year-old man, a married father of three young children, during a home invasion robbery near 54th and Warrington. Police say the home invasion took place shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday on the 1100 block of S. Ruby Street. The intruders, described as three teenagers wearing masks, entered the house through the unlocked front door. They found the man, his wife, ad three children ages 5, 2 and 10 months upstairs.

One of the men, armed with a black and silver handgun, took the woman to the kitchen where he put the gun to her head and demanded money, according to a police report. Then she heard another man yelling at her husband in the living room, asking: “Where’s the money?” She then heard a single gunshot. She found her husband lying on the floor suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The woman called police. Police say they found a shotgun on the front porch when they arrived.  Continue Reading

Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW), a local non-profit that has been providing bike education and recreation opportunities to youth for nearly 20 years, has a new home. The organization has recently opened a new, larger community shop and bike education hub at 3939 Lancaster Ave. For many years West Philly’s NBW headquarters had been located in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on Locust Walk.

The new space’s grand opening celebration, which included community bike shop dedication, volunteer awards, and commemorative t-shirt screen printing, took place on Saturday:  Continue Reading