Authorities have formally charged a North Philadelphia man with murder in the shooting death of Police Officer Moses Walker Jr. and identified a second suspect who remains at-large.
Rafael Jones, 23, was charged with murder, robbery and related offenses for allegedly shooting Walker during an attempted robbery on Aug. 18 in North Philadelphia shortly after Walker left work.
Police claim Jones was the shooter and has admitted to his role in Walker’s death.
Authorities picked him at a Southwest Philadelphia apartment complex Wednesday on a bench warrant after they received a tip.
Police are still searching for the second suspect, who they identified as 19-year-old Chancier McFarland.
Court records show that Jones has been arrested numerous times for charges related to firearms violations, aggravated assault and robbery, though most of the charges were withdrawn. At the time police apprehended Jones, he had failed to report to a probation officer for a firearms conviction.
“There are a lot of details that we have to review, with court actions, the probation department,” District Attorney Seth Williams said at a press conference Friday. “It’s not a perfect system, we’re going to find out what happened.”
