On October 29, 2019, seven-year-old Leslie Woodson-Holmes was killed inside his West Philadelphia home on Walton Avenue, along with his mother, 51-year-old Janet Woodson-Holmes, his stepfather, 56-year-old Leslie Holmes, and his 18-year-old half-brother, Sy-eed Woodson. All four were found dead on October 30 after family members reported Janet and her husband didn’t show up for work and police conducted a welfare check. Officers forced entry through a second-floor window and located the victims in different rooms; each had suffered fatal gunshot wounds from a shotgun fired at close range.

Police encountered 29-year-old Maurice Louis at the scene, naked and drinking from a bottle of vodka; he told officers they would find the bodies inside and immediately confessed to the killings. Family members said Louis had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression and had stopped taking his medication. The night before the murders he had been taken to a local hospital for erratic behavior but was not admitted and left without psychiatric evaluation. On the day of the killings Louis legally purchased the shotgun used in the attack.