A man pleaded guilty to killing five people and injuring five others during a mass shooting spree in Philadelphia’s Kingsessing neighborhood more than two years ago.
On Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, a judge accepted 43-year-old Kimbrady Carriker’s guilty plea to five counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Carriker was sentenced to 37 ½ to 75 years in prison as part of the deal.
“All I ever wanted to do was help my community,” Carriker said during his sentencing. “I never meant to cause this harm. I’m sorry for the pain that I’ve caused. I would take it back, but I can’t. Maybe one day you can forgive me.”
Deadly mass shooting spree
Carriker was arrested more than two years ago after he went on a shooting spree in Kingsessing on July 3, 2023, starting at the intersection of 56th and Chester streets. The shooting left four people dead and five others injured. Police also said Carriker killed another man in Kingsessing the night before on July 2.
Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney Bob Wainwright described the shooting as “fourteen minutes of terror.”
“This was one of the deadliest days in Philadelphia in decades,’ Wainwright said.
The four victims who were killed on July 3, 2023, were identified as Lashyd Merritt, 20, Dymir Stanton, 29, Ralph Moralis, 59, and Daujan Brown, 15. The victim who was killed on July 2, 2023, was identified as 31-year-old Joseph Wamah Jr.
During his arrest, Carriker was wearing body armor while carrying an AR-15-style gun.
In August of 2023, Carriker was considered unfit for trial after a psychiatrist ordered him to undergo 60 days of inpatient mental health treatment.
Carriker was then found competent and fit for trial in March of 2024.
During Wednesday’s sentencing, Wainwright said Carriker’s mental health played a factor in the agreement.
“This was a person who had serious psychological issues and at the time of the murders, even when he was initially apprehended, his first words were, ‘I’m out here helping you guys. I don’t want blue on blue violence,’” Wainwright said.
The incident led to an evaluation of the Philadelphia Police Department’s dispatch system, as officers called to the scene of Wamah’s slaying on the night before the deadly shooting spree, were sent to the wrong location.
Family members react to sentencing
Family members of the mass shooting victims were present during Carriker’s guilty plea on Wednesday. Some of them told NBC10 they accepted the plea deal while others said they don’t. Instead, they want Carriker to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Carriker listened to the family members as they described how the mass shooting changed their lives.
“I remember him on that ground and I couldn’t do anything,” Odessa Brown, the grandmother of Daujan Brown, said. “I couldn’t save my baby.”
Odessa Brown said her grandson was living with her at the time of his murder.
“He came and stayed with me because he wanted to live,” she said. “And just for him to still come and die, that really broke my heart.”
Jonah Wamah, the brother of Joseph Wamah Jr., said his sibling lived with his father who discovered his son’s body after Carriker killed him. Jonah Wamah said their father died in September and never got the chance to see his son’s killer take responsibility for the pain he caused.
“It’s very traumatizing not to see my brother here, my dad here,” Jonah Wamah said. “My dad went through the whole trauma trying to see something he couldn’t unsee and now I’ve got to suffer for both of that.”
Carriker’s defense attorney did not comment after the sentencing. In court, the defense acknowledged the gravity of Carriker’s actions, saying he had a fixed delusion that he was working for the National Security Agency at the time of the shooting. They also said their client wanted to resolve the case and not put the victims’ family members through a trial.
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