PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An acquaintance has been charged within the dying of a Philadelphia journalist who went from sleeping on the road to working for the mayor to writing pressing columns on the town’s most urgent social points.
Robert Edmond Davis, 19, faces homicide, weapons counts and associated fees within the dying of Josh Kruger, 39, who was shot and killed at his Philadelphia dwelling Oct. 2. A warrant had been issued for Davis 4 days later and authorities have stated they’ve video of him within the space of Kruger’s dwelling earlier than the taking pictures.
Davis was arrested at his South Philadelphia dwelling Wednesday evening. Authorities have stated the motive behind the killing stays unclear however that the pair have been in a relationship.
It was not clear Thursday if Davis has retained an legal professional. His mom, Damica Davis, advised The Philadelphia Inquirer that if her son did kill Kruger, there’s no excuse, noting “it’s tragic what occurred, however I really feel like my son is a sufferer on this, as nicely.”
Kruger was shot seven occasions at about 1:30 a.m. and collapsed on the street after looking for assist, police stated. He was pronounced useless at a hospital a short while later.
The slaying was felt deeply at Metropolis Corridor and amongst individuals concerned within the many causes he cared about: dependancy, homelessness, HIV and LGBTQ+ advocacy, journalism and bicycling, to call just a few.
“One of many worst components of being homeless in city America is feeling invisible. When individuals don’t acknowledge your humanity, you start to query it your self,” he wrote in a 2015 column for The Philadelphia Citizen, simply three years after he himself slept exterior a legislation agency close to Rittenhouse Sq..
In more moderen columns, he condemned Metropolis Council members as cowards for banning supervised injection websites in most components of the town; dismissed debates about politically right language over homelessness as irrelevant; and, in a remaining column, dove into the town’s collective grief over the sudden dying final month of Temple College’s appearing president JoAnne Epps.
Kruger dealt with social media for the mayor and communications for the Workplace of Homeless Providers from about 2016 to 2021. He left metropolis authorities to concentrate on writing initiatives.
He wrote at numerous occasions for Philadelphia Weekly, Philadelphia Metropolis Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer and different publications, incomes awards for his poignant and sometimes humorous fashion.
On his web site, he described himself as a “militant bicyclist” and “a proponent of the singular they, the Oxford comma, and pre-Elon Twitter.”