Another senseless murder, this time the killing of a 23-year-old Temple University graduate following a misunderstanding about a cab. The victim identified as Kevin Kless was beaten to death in the Old City neighborhood.
And you won’t believe the dumb reason that prompted the killing.
Apparently, Kless was walking with two female friends on Chestnut Street near Fourth Street after the local bars let out at 2:00 a.m., reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. Kless tried to hail a cab that had its lights on, signaling that the cab was available. However, when the cab passed with a carful of passengers, Kless screamed at the cab to turn its lights off.
Unfortunately for Kless, there was a Mazda traveling behind the cab and the passengers in the Mazda misunderstood that Kless was screaming at them, reports the Inquirer. So two of the four men in the Mazda got out and chased Kless down the street before beating him on the steps of the historical Second Bank of the United States.
The two assailants started to leave when a third passenger in the Mazda caught up with them and they resumed their beating. Kless was killed when one of the men slammed his head against the bank's granite's walls. He died shortly thereafter.
The police are now looking for the three suspects in the car. Once caught, the men likely face murder in the third degree charges -- the lowest murder charge.
Generally, there are three degrees of murder in Pennsylvania. First degree murder is usually reserved for premeditated killings like planning the murder of a spouse for life insurance. Second degree murder is for felony murders like killing a security guard while in the act of robbing a bank. And third degree murder is for all other murders.
Kevin Kless was killed in a remarkably stupid misunderstanding. Kless thought he was yelling at a cab. A carful of thugs thought Kless was yelling at them. Now Kless is dead, and a carful of assailants are wanted for murder.
Related Resources:
- Find a Philadelphia Criminal Defense Attorney (FindLaw)
- Homicide (FindLaw)
- Stepfather Kills Three Teens in Philadelphia Shootings (FindLaw's Philadelphia Criminal Law News)
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