Police are searching for 35-year-old Shariff Perry after Michelle Wilson was killed outside the North Philadelphia home she shared with her husband.
PHILADELPHIA — A 61-year-old woman was fatally shot and her husband wounded as they sat outside their North Philadelphia home after a day connected to their new food-truck business, according to police and local reports.
Michelle Wilson died after the shooting late Aug. 9 on the 2800 block of North 24th Street. Her 67-year-old husband, Evans Tyree Wilson Jr., was also shot and taken to a hospital. Police later said he was in stable condition. Investigators have identified Shariff Perry, 35, as a suspect and obtained a warrant charging him with murder, firearms violations and related offenses. Perry remained at large Thursday.
Philadelphia police said officers responded at about 11:49 p.m. to a report of a person with a gun and found the couple wounded on their porch. Both were taken to Temple University Hospital. Wilson was pronounced dead shortly after midnight, according to police. Investigators recovered more than 20 shell casings from the scene and began reviewing video from city and privately owned surveillance cameras in the area.
Police said video from near the home shows a man walking along the street before the shooting and moving what appeared to be a firearm from a bag into his coat. Another camera angle recorded flashes as gunfire erupted near the porch. Investigators later identified the person seen in surveillance footage as Perry, according to police and local news reports. Authorities have not said publicly what evidence beyond the surveillance footage led detectives to identify him as the suspect.
The shooting came as Wilson and her husband were beginning a new business venture. Neighbors told local news organizations that the couple had recently started selling sandwiches and tacos from a food truck. Aaron Lively, a longtime friend and neighbor, described them as hardworking people who had known others in the neighborhood for years. He told CBS Philadelphia that Wilson was a good neighbor who was willing to help people.
Police initially said they did not know whether Wilson and her husband had been deliberately targeted. Investigators also said they had not established a motive in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Thursday, citing unnamed law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation, that detectives were examining whether the attack may have been retaliation connected to an earlier homicide. Police had not publicly confirmed that possible motive.
The Inquirer reported that Perry is the brother of James Dunbar, a 20-year-old man killed in a 2022 shooting. According to the newspaper, Wilson’s son, Evans, is among three people charged in Dunbar’s death. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. The newspaper’s sources said investigators were considering whether that earlier case was connected to Sunday’s shooting. Because authorities have not publicly announced a motive, the possible connection remains part of the ongoing investigation rather than an established finding.
The latest account provides additional context to a shooting that initially appeared unexplained to people who knew the couple. Neighbors said Wilson and her family had gathered earlier Sunday, and friends described the couple as familiar figures in the area. The sudden gunfire late that night left Wilson dead and her husband hospitalized while homicide detectives began searching for the person responsible.
Police announced Wednesday that they had obtained an arrest warrant for Perry. He is wanted on charges that include murder and weapons offenses. The charges are allegations, and Perry has not been convicted in connection with Wilson’s death. Investigators were continuing to seek him Thursday, and no report reviewed Thursday night indicated that he had been taken into custody.
Authorities have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Perry’s arrest and conviction. The homicide investigation remains active, and police have not publicly released a final determination of motive. Wilson’s husband survived the shooting and was most recently reported in stable condition as detectives continued their search for Perry.