Six indicted on charges connected to double murder
Six people were indicted for their alleged involvement in the double murder of an aspiring rapper and his friend that also injured a third person, authorities said.
Lakeisha Hill, 29, Shaquille McNeil, 24, Tashawn Santiago, 25, and Cecil Blake, 31, were each hit with charges of murder, attempted murder and weapons offenses.
Felicita Gee, 43, and Fantasia Gee, 24, were indicted on charges of hindering apprehension and giving false information to cops.
Hill and Santiago were indicted on the same charges, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said, as part of a 14-count indictment handed up by a grand jury this week.
The double murder of Philadelphia rapper Elmii Problema, whose real name is Jerard PerdomoSantana, and his friend, 19-year-old Ivan Rodriguez, happened the afternoon of Jan. 22, near Washington Street and Ashmore Avenue.
He and Rodriguez were found shot inside an idling black Ford Taurus riddled with bullets. Both men were taken to the hospital where they later died.
A 29-year-old man injured in the gunfire drove himself to the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder and the hand.
One of the murder suspects, Blake, survived being blasted five times in the chest April 6 on the 100 block of Monmouth Street.
Officials haven’t said whether there’s a link between Blake’s assassination attempt and his role in the double murder.
Blake has convictions for reckless manslaughter and gun-toting, court records show.
He pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Samuel Hardwick in 2007 in a plea deal with prosecutors that called for five years in prison and allowed codefendants James Deonte James and David Kennedy to walk.
Blake was also nabbed by cops in March on a number of drug charges for allegedly dealing cocaine. He was found with 105 grams of cocaine and $257 in cash, cops said.
On Jan. 12, PerdomoSantana, who released his debut mixtape Maxima Seguridad last year, posted a Facebook live video of him and Rodriguez driving around in a car together, listening to music.
He posted a similar video on the morning he died.