William Crawford, 35, was shot and killed on the morning of Saturday, September 8, 2018, on the 1900 block of Hartel Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. Police were called at about 9:12 a.m. and found him wounded on the sidewalk; early reports said he suffered multiple gunshot wounds, while a later report described the fatal injury as a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

Crawford had parked a white Dodge Journey in front of a home on Hartel Avenue when a man approached him. The suspect was described at the time as wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white design on the back and skinny jeans; the person fled westbound toward Loretto Avenue after the shooting. Crawford lived on Lynford Street in Philadelphia.

The investigation later broadened into a probe of alleged paid killings in the city. Public filings list this killing as the first of four connected homicides under that inquiry. If anyone knew William Crawford, his habits, or anything about the vehicle or the man seen near Hartel Avenue that morning, please share information with investigators.