HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that a Philadelphia County jury has convicted two men for their roles in a series of gang-related shootings that left three people dead, a victim paralyzed, and four others wounded by gunfire.
Chris Byard, 27, was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and related charges. Daquan Bishop, 28, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. Byard was sentenced to three consecutive life terms and Bishop was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.
The jury returned the verdicts on Tuesday afternoon.
The arrests were the result of a joint investigation between the Philadelphia Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Philadelphia Field Division, and the Office of Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force.
The shootings occurred in northeast and northwest Philadelphia between November 2021 and February 2022. The violence stemmed from an ongoing feud between the defendants’ gang, “6600,” and a rival gang in Northeast Philadelphia.
“These violent criminals are being held accountable for a reign of cruel and senseless violence that took lives, shattered families, and traumatized neighborhoods,” Attorney General Sunday said. “I am grateful to the jurors for carefully combing through the facts, presented by prosecutors, that showed the perpetrators of this violence were Daquan Bishop and Chris Byard. I thank the many law enforcement partners for outstanding work that, we hope, brings a sense of justice to the many impacted survivors and community members.”
Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division, said: “Thanks to the great cooperation with our local, state, and federal partners, these dangerous serial killers are off the streets and convicted, The ATF’s NIBIN system was a key asset, connecting these shootings using the ballistic evidence, and leading investigators to piece together the digital and forensic evidence and prove this case. Our tight cooperation and state-of-the-art investigative tools should deter the would-be criminals out there. ATF continues to target the worst of the worst criminals with our local, state, and federal partners to further drive down violent crime in Philadelphia and across the Commonwealth.”
During the trial, the Office of Attorney General presented video evidence from three separate shootings that showed Bishop and Byard firing multiple shots at the intended targets before fleeing in their car. The fourth shooting involved Byard and a rival gang member. According to testimony, Byard admitted to shooting that victim 19 times, leaving the man paralyzed from the waist-down.
Four additional people were wounded in the shootings. Bishop and Byard believed the intended targets were members of a rival gang — although in one killing, the defendants mistook the identity of their victim.
Prosecutors also used social media and cell phone analysis to link Bishop and Byard to the shootings, along with forensic analysis of the fired cartridge casings, which showed that the same firearms were used in some of the shootings.
Another defendant — 27-year-old Daquan Bethea — pleaded guilty in October 2024 to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and firearms not to be carried without a license, and was sentenced to serve up to 15 years in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Attorney General Maggie Hayes-Oberst and Senior Deputy Attorney General Helen Park.
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