Two city men were sitting on the front porch of their city residence in the evening hours of Oct. 16, 2014, when they were approached by a city man clad in a gray sweater, wielding a .45-caliber automatic handgun.
Randy Kareem Washington
The two didn’t know it at the time, but the unknown black male was Randy Kareem Washington, 33, a man authorities say terrorized the city during a fourth-month crime spree that claimed the lives of 43-year-old George Jamison and Silas Johnson, 64.
Washington, charged in five armed robberies and the shooting deaths of the two city men, was charged Tuesday with a sixth armed robbery and an additional count of attempted murder related to the Oct. 16 holdup outside the Centre Street residence. He is being held at a county jail on $2.1 million bail on the murder charges.
Judge Timothy Lydon maintained bail at $250,000 cash-only on the attempted murder count.
Prosecutors said Washington brandished a handgun, pointed it at the two male victims and demanded money around 11:15 p.m. Police were called to the scene on a report of shots fired.
Prosecutors said Washington opened fire on one of the victims when the victim attempted to run inside the home after Washington pointed the gun at him and demanded money.
The gun jammed, prosecutors said, sparing the first victim. Washington fired a second time, this time striking the door of the residence.
The male victim was not struck, got inside safely and locked the door, leaving the other male outside alone with Washington.
Washington turned his attention to the second victim, pointing the gun at him and demanding cash. The victim attempted to slap the gun away from Washington, prosecutors said.
Washington fired another round, grazing the victim in the hand. Washington hopped on a bicycle and rode away, prosecutors said.
Investigators recovered a single Federal .45 automatic shell casing outside the residence. Ballistics tests revealed it came from same handgun Washington used in the murders of Jamison and Johnson, Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds said.
Prosecutors have said Washington stalked and fatally shot Johnson under an overpass near Route 1 on Oct. 29, shortly after the two disembarked from a train ride. Washington accused Johnson of sexually assaulting his sister moments before he fired the fatal shot, prosecutor have said.
Geurds hasn’t said whether investigators substantiated the rape claim. Johnson was accused of sexual assault in 1995, court records show.
Washington is accused of gunning down Jamison during a July 30 botched robbery.
Prosecutors have said police obtained video footage that clearly shows Washington, clad in a multicolor jacket, saying something to Jamison at a North Broad Street bus stop while he held him up at gunpoint. He then allegedly shot Jamison in the back and rode away on a bicycle, prosecutors said.