Malik Ballard was a 17-year-old Black male from Philadelphia who was shot and killed on April 28, 2023, in the Lawncrest/Crescentville area of Northeast Philadelphia. Police were called about 3:36 p.m. to the 5900 block of Palmetto Street after gunfire erupted through and around a rowhouse. Officers found Malik on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds; two other teenagers, Khalif Frezghi and Salaah Fleming, were also found dead at the scene. A fourth teen, 16, survived after being shot and later arriving at a hospital in a private vehicle.

Investigators said the shooting grew out of a planned firearm transaction inside the home — described variously as a gun deal, gun swap, or a $1,000 sale — that collapsed into gunfire when weapons were drawn. Police recovered ballistic evidence from the street and a firearm inside the residence, and linked a black Ford Edge to the incident. Two teenage males, ages 15 and 16, were arrested on firearms charges after the vehicle was found about two miles away following a crash.

In the days after the shooting police named persons of interest including Taj Lennon, then 15, and Tyree Lennon, then 22, and later identified Taj Lennon, Kevin Yip, and Kyzir Reeves as wanted in connection with the quadruple shooting.

If anyone has information about Malik, the events on Palmetto Street that day, or the people named, please contact Philadelphia homicide detectives.