On Independence Day 2013, a Philadelphia man was shot and wounded during a fatal shooting in Norristown that claimed the life of his friend, Tyrek “Reke” Fairel. In a twist of fate, that same surviving victim was gunned down on Saturday during a 10-year memorial ceremony for Fairel at Whitemarsh Memorial Park in Horsham Township.
Daniel Elijah Hawkins, 29, was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting shortly after 3:04 p.m., according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Horsham Police Chief Scott Fida.
Another man, Arian Davis, 33, of Philadelphia, was seriously injured in the shooting, authorities said. Davis was transported to Abington Memorial Hospital and was treated for injuries to his jaw, hand and leg, police said.
A joint investigation into the murder has been launched by Montgomery County Detectives and Horsham Police.
Police said a large group of people were at a birthday celebration in the cemetery at Fairel’s grave, when suddenly gunfire broke out in the group, killing Hawkins and injuring Davis, police said. According to a release from the district attorney’s office, more than 30 shots were fired during the incident, and police are looking for the suspect or suspects who fired the shots.
The investigation is ongoing.
Call Montgomery County Detectives at 610-226-5553 or Horsham Police Department at 215-643-8284 with any information about the Hawkins murder.
Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the STOPit! app.
Current Shooting Victim Survived Fatal Shooting of Friend in 2013
According to a November 2013 Norristown Patch article, the then 19-year-old Hawkins – nicknamed “Naji” – was shot in his left hand during the Fairel murder, treated at Mercy Suburban Hospital, and later released.
Fairel, 19, who was shot in the back of the head in the 2013 incident, was airlifted from Mercy Suburban to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and succumbed to his injury the next day, according to the article.
Dwayne Eric Jubilee Jr., then 20 years old, of Norristown, was arrested in connection with the death of Fairel on Nov. 1, 2013 by U.S. Marshals and Philadelphia Police, according to the report. Jubilee was initially charged with third-degree murder, a first-degree felony punishable by 20 to 40 years in prison, police said.
Jubilee was eventually given 7 ½ to 15 years in prison in January 2015, after being found guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a criminal instrument and two counts of reckless endangerment, according to the Times Herald. A jury found him not guilty of voluntary manslaughter, per reports.
Jubilee, 29, remains incarcerated at State Correctional Institution Somerset in southwestern Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
According to reports, Hawkins reluctantly testified against Jubilee at the August 2014 trial, but only after he was warned he would be charged with contempt of court if he continued to refuse to testify.
Jubilee, who was represented by renowned Philadelphia attorney Jack McMahon, was required to serve his sentence consecutively with an attempted murder sentence out of Philadelphia, according to the article. He pleaded guilty in August 2015 to attempted murder and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison for that crime, according to reports. Jubilee was arraigned on the attempted murder charge one month after the Norristown shooting arrest, per reports.
Police said Hawkins was driving a 2000 Chevrolet Impala on July 4, 2013, with Fairel in the backseat, when they encountered and had an argument with Jubilee on Elm Street, according to the Patch article. Jubilee fired a gunshot through the front passenger window, striking Hawkins in the hand, according to the report.
Hawkins drove away, but Jubilee fired again through the rear passenger window, fatally wounding Fairel in the back of the head, police said.
Hawkins told police after the 2013 shooting that Fairel told Hawkins to follow a white car to see who was in it, according to the Times Herald. Jubilee told police he felt he was being chased by Fairel and Hawkins, per the affidavit of probable cause. In 2013, Steele, then acting as First Assistant to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, said Jubilee claimed to be in a “self-defense posture,” but that went out the window when evidence showed the car was driving away when he fired into the back of the car, per the report.
Read more about the first incident here.
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