On the evening of March 15, 2022, 30-year-old Stephen Hoston III was walking in Frankford, Philadelphia, with his girlfriend, her two young nieces and a six-month-old nephew; Hoston was carrying the infant in a car seat. As they walked on the 4900 block of Hawthorne Street, a gunman who they had just passed came up from behind and opened fire. Hoston was struck by multiple gunshots. He shielded the baby he was carrying, and the infant was unharmed. His girlfriend and the children were physically uninjured but left traumatised.

Philadelphia officers found Hoston at 6:54 p.m.; he was taken to Temple University Hospital and pronounced dead that evening. Authorities later said Hoston was the intended target rather than a random victim. Hoston worked in manufacturing, painting industrial parts and operating a forklift, and was remembered by family as a kind, hardworking family man who mentored young people and planned to move into a new apartment with his nephew. Police arrested a suspect named Quadir R. Dickerson and charged him with 3rd-degree murder; Hoston’s family has expressed that the charge was insufficient and started a petition and a GoFundMe for funeral expenses.

Does anyone have information about that March 15 shooting or the moments leading up to it?