Kelvontae Perry and Quashaad James have been charged in connection to the killing of Shaquille Love, who prosecutors say was an innocent bystander.
Two Bristol Township men will face a county judge in connection to the murder of a man caught in the crossfire of a longstanding feud between two neighborhoods.
Kelvontae Perry, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and firearms violations for his alleged role in the December 2020 killing of Shaquille Love, 21. Perry’s longtime friend, Quashaad James, 28, faces perjury and false swearing after he lied to a grand jury investigating Love’s murder and falsely implicated Perry’s brother investigators said.
Magisterial District Judge Terrence P. Hughes held both men on all charges Thursday and set their arraignment for Oct. 20. Both remain in custody: Perry was denied bail, and James was held in lieu of $10,000.
Perry’s attorney, Michael Diamondstein, said his client denies being involved in the shooting. Craig Penglase, who is representing James, did not return a request for comment.
Love was shot once in the head as he sat behind the wheel of his car on Edgely Road, according to a presentment prepared by the grand jury. He pulled over after a gold Lexus sedan had been tailing his vehicle, and stopped to let the other car pass.
A gunman in the Lexus’ passenger seat fired once as the car, driven by Perry, slowly rolled by, the presentment said. Love was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors said their investigation remains active, and they have not yet charged anyone with firing the shot that killed Love.
Investigators believe that that fatal shot was intended for Andre Bryant, one of Love’s close friends, who was sitting in his passenger seat at the time, the presentment said.
Bryant, who lives in the Winder Village section of Bristol Township, is active in an ongoing feud between residents of that neighborhood and residents of Bloomsdale, another community nearby.
What started out as petty insults traded through rap songs and music videos gradually turned deadly, with multiple shootings and assaults between the two factions, according to investigators. The conflict reached a new intensity in May 2018, when Zyisean McDuffie and Tommy Ballard, two 19-year-old Bloomsdale residents, were killed by Joey Williams, 24, of Winder Village.
Williams was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and is serving two consecutive life sentences in state prison. His co-defendant, Gary Goddard, 54, was convicted of attempted murder for shooting a third teen who survived.
But Love, prosecutors said, had no affiliation or interest in that feud. His father, Samuel, described him to the grand jury as a hard worker, whose family had left Philadelphia in 2008 to avoid the type of street violence that killed him.
Bryant confirmed this in his own testimony, saying Love was a bystander, and was simply giving him a ride on the night of the shooting.
Bloomsdale residents were targeting Bryant, because months earlier, he was seen urinating on a memorial for McDuffie and Ballard, according to the presentment.
Not long after Love’s killing, investigators identified Perry’s vehicle as the one the gunman had been riding in. They tracked the vehicle to an apartment complex in the township, and towed it for evidence.
Perry declined to speak with investigators that day, and eluded them for several months, according to the presentment.
In the meantime, investigators viewed Perry’s social media. They found that in the days leading up to Love’s shooting, he posted several pictures of guns, including a .45 caliber pistol, the type of firearm used to shoot Love, according to the presentment.
He also bragged to a friend that he had “smoked an opp,” slang that prosecutors said meant he had killed someone.
Meanwhile, rumors spread around Bristol Township that Perry and James were involved in the shooting. Under questioning from prosecutors, Perry denied any involvement, and said he never carried guns. He later failed a polygraph test.
James testified to the grand jury he was sitting in the backseat of Perry’s car on the night of the shooting, but that Eishon Perry, his younger brother, fired at Love. Jurors found that James was not a credible witness, the presentment said.
Eishon Perry had a solid alibi on the night of the shooting, working at a nearby gas station, prosecutors said. In his own testimony, Perry said his brother had called him shortly after Love’s shooting and claimed responsibility. He later spoke to him a second time, and instead pinned the murder on James, according to the presentment.
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