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Jury deliberates fate of Keith Gibson, suspected serial killer accused in 6 deaths in Delaware and Philadelphia
Jury deliberations are under way in the trial of a suspected serial killer accused in the deaths of six people in Delaware and Pennsylvania in 2021.
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Jury deliberates fate of Keith Gibson, suspected serial killer accused in 6 deaths in Delaware and Philadelphia
November 13, 2023 / 9:13 PM EST / AP
A Delaware jury heard closing arguments and began deliberations Monday in the trial of a suspected serial killer accused in the deaths of six people in Delaware and Pennsylvania in 2021.
Keith Gibson, 41, of Philadelphia, is charged with murder in the killings of Elsmere cellphone store clerk Leslie Ruiz-Basilio, 28, and Wilmington drug dealer Ronald Wright, 42, during separate robberies. He is also charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Wilmington store clerk Belal Almansoori, and the armed robbery of a drug store.
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Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, meanwhile, has approved murder charges against Gibson in the killings of his mother and a Philadelphia doughnut shop manager, as well as the deaths of two men found shot in the head at a store in Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood. Authorities say they will pursue those charges after Gibson is prosecuted in Delaware.
Prosecutors in Delaware have relied heavily on video surveillance footage showing the robberies and shootings of Ruiz-Basilio and Almansoori. They also argue that ballistics evidence links the shootings of Ruiz-Basilio and Wright and ties them to a revolver recovered when Gibson was arrested.
Surveillance footage from May 15, 2021, at the Metro PCS store in Elsmere shows Ruiz-Basilio being confronted by a gunman, who takes her to the back of the store. As Ruiz-Basilio has her arms raised, the gunman raises his weapon and shoots her in the head at point-blank range. He then walks out of the store with stolen cash and cell phones and drives away in her SUV. The stolen vehicle was later recovered in Philadelphia near Gibson's home.
Almansoori, who was shot on June 6, 2021, is seen lying on the floor of his store pretending to be dead after a gunman's first shot missed him. After stealing several items, the gunman shoots the prone teenager in the head. As he leaves, the gunman turns and shoots Almansoori again. Almansoori survived and testified in Gibson's trial.
Almansoori was shot one day after Wright was killed in his Wilmington residence, which prosecutors say was a known "drug house." Gibson was later found with a shoulder bag in which prosecutors say Wright kept his drugs.
Earlier on the same day Wright was shot, Christine Lugo, 40, was confronted by a gunman as she opened a Dunkin' shop in north Philadelphia. Police say Gibson pushed her inside, took about $300 and shot her in the head, a killing also captured on surveillance video.
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