Store holdup linked to West Phila. triple murder

WEST PHILADELPHIA - February 8, 2012

Philadelphia police say that video is from a robbery in August at the Jaquez Grocery in the 2400 block of North 62nd Street in Southwest Philadelphia.

The three men seen on the video are being called 'persons of interest' in the killings of three people inside a West Philadelphia store in September.

That killings at Lorena's Grocery on the 800 block of North 50th Street left 50-year-old Porfirio Nunez, 44-year-old Johana Duran and 48-year-old Lina Sanchez dead.

After the robbery at Jaquez Grocery, the suspects were described as:

  • Black male, 20-30 years-of-age, full beard, blue Dodgers hat, dark long sleeve, polo shirt, and light blue jeans
  • Black male, 20-30 years-of-age, full beard, red hat with Polo emblem, light colored long sleeve thermal shirt, dark jeans
  • Black male, 20-30 years-of-age, heavyset, light colored hat with Polo emblem, dark short sleeve shirt, light colored cargo pants
Anyone with information pertaining to the crime or the identity of the suspects is urged call the Philadelphia Police Tip Line at 215-686-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip anonymously at phillypolice.com.

A $50,000 reward will go for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects

In the August 11th, 2011 robbery at Jaquez Grocery, surveillance video shows three males enter the store. Two of the suspects, who were armed with guns, pointed their weapons at an employee and demanded money while the third suspect acted as a lookout. The suspects took $2,300 from the store and fled northbound on 62nd Street.

In the September 6th, 2011 killings at Lorena's Grocery, police say the victims were closing up shop when one of the survivors, a 19-year-old daughter of two of the victims, says she received a strange call asking if the store had surveillance cameras or needed them.

She gave then phone to her father.

"He said no, he was ok, that's when the guys came in and I turned around, they were there with the guns," the daughter told Action News shortly after the crime.

It was Porfirio's 50th birthday. His daughter says they shot and killed him before he had a chance to reach for the gun he keeps in the store.

She says they then walked to the rear of the store and shot her mother and aunt.

They forced her to watch.

"I was supposed to be the last one and I asked them not to...they put the gun in my face and I asked them not to, and they didn't," the 19-year-old said.

"The guy let me see everything, like he was turning my head, making me turn around and see everything. It was just mean," the daughter said.

After taking some cash, the two suspects fled, leaving the 19-year-old and her younger sister alive.

Nunez's nephew Javis Sanchez now operates the store and installed a sophisticated surveillance system.

"It's something I'm doing for my family and what I'm doing for them is never giving up," Sanchez said.

Sanchez has changed the store's name using the first name initials of the three who died.

Some long time customers still shop there, others cannot handle it.

"The killing happened inside, so when you walk in, you feel it," Deborah Wiley of West Philadelphia said.

After months of dead ends and a cold trail, Javish Sanchez hopes justice for his loved ones in finally around the corner because of this break.

"I just keep on praying that I want them caught,:" Sanchez said.

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