The sister of a slain West Philadelphia community leader said she is "fed up" with a "broken" system as she slammed the city's Democratic prosecutor for lax criminal justice policies that allowed a suspect in the case to have been freed from prison following a previous violent crime.
In September, Charles Gossett was gunned down in Overbrook, a prominent neighborhood near St. Joseph's University noted as the childhood home of actor Will Smith. His sister told "The Story" Friday their family and community is missing its leader.
"Our family is distraught. We lost our brother. Our mother lost their son. His kids lost their father. And the community lost a leader. He was a foot soldier for Philadelphia, [an] underdog for everyone that was trying to better themselves," said Linda Cruz.
Cruz said Gossett's killing was the second murder in her family, and that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's criminal justice programs aren't working despite his claims.
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"We're fed up, and we're not going to take it anymore. The system and everything that's going on, it's broken, and we're here to fix it," she said, characteriizng Krasner's behavior as more helpful to suspects than victims.
Krasner is facing a legislative impeachment inquiry in the Republican-controlled State House, with the Democrat slamming the actions of the panel led by Rep. John Lawrence, R-Oxford.
Krasner said Lawrence and his committee – which includes two Philadelphia Democrats: Rep. Danilo Burgos of Fairhill and Amen Brown of Mill Creek – are wrongly focusing only on his county and not the other 66 in Pennsylvania amid the crime wave. He also lamented the investigation occurring amid a "super-heated election cycle."
The Philadelphia crime wave has been front-and-center in the midterm races, with GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano slamming the uptick in crime, and blaming Democratic opponent Attorney General Josh Shapiro for failing to blunt it.
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While stating earlier this year he opposes fellow Republicans' impeachment of Krasner – saying "Philadelphia, they want Krasner; they like him – that's a huge mandate" – Mastriano has also promised to take action to protect communities wracked by violence.
"Philadelphia is where this nation was birthed in 1776. It should be a hallowed place… but now it’s a place of danger. And your kids are condemned to these dangerous areas," he said during a Hispanic town hall last month in Fairhill.
Republican senatorial nominee Mehmet Oz has also made Philadelphia's crime crisis a hallmark in his race, saying he has visited and consoled residents of "the nation's largest open-air drug market" that is the beleaguered Kensington neighborhood east of Temple University. He has criticized opponent Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's past votes on the state parole board in favor of releasing some convicts.
The suspect sought in Gossett's killing, Jamir Harris, was last seen traveling east on U.S. 30 from the area, as Fox News reported he is accused of driving two gunmen involved in the killing.
Harris had been released from prison after being exonerated in a previous case -- wherein prosecutors reportedly helped secure the overturning of a life-without-parole sentence in connection with a deadly shooting near Quartermaster Plaza in 2012.
Krasner's Conviction Integrity Unit began reviewing Harris' file in 2018, CBS affiliate KYW-3 reported.
Late Friday, Harris reportedly turned himself in to the PPD.
