Two killed in high-speed
chase on Boulevard

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

If Shawn Bender couldn’t have his baby daughter, apparently he didn’t want anybody else to have her, either.
Bender’s rage over having to surrender custody of 14-month-old Shavissa to the baby’s mother, Jalessa Hall, allegedly prompted him to use his car as a murder weapon early on July 16. He caused a devastating Roosevelt Boulevard crash that claimed the lives of two people, including the baby girl, and critically injured four others, including himself, police said.
Detectives aren’t sure where the custody dispute began, but it led to a high-speed chase involving two cars southbound on the Boulevard and resulted in the "horrific" crash near Adams Avenue at about 12:30 a.m., said Capt. James Clark of the homicide division.
During the pursuit, Bender, 19, allegedly rammed his Chrysler Concorde numerous times into a Ford Crown Victoria occupied by the 16-year-old Hall, the couple’s daughter and three other people. Both vehicles veered past other motorists until Bender and the driver of the fleeing car, 17-year-old Charles Johnson, each lost control of their vehicles.
Johnson’s car slammed into a concrete entryway to an abandoned underground pedestrian crossing. Johnson, a West Philadelphia resident, was pronounced dead at the scene. The baby Shavissa died from trauma-related injuries at 3:30 a.m. on July 17 at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.
Hall and her sister Cassandra Hall, 16, were each injured critically and taken to Temple University Hospital. The girls’ cousin, Emerald Dustin, 24, also suffered critical injuries and was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Dustin had been upgraded to stable condition as the Times went to press. Updated statuses of the Hall sisters were unavailable.
Bender, who had been wanted by police since May on at least two arrest warrants, smashed his car into a pole and was also critically injured. He was taken to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale and later upgraded to stable condition. He remained hospitalized under police guard as the Times went to press.
Bender, whose last known address is on the 600 block of E. Lippincott St., is charged with two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and numerous related offenses.
Police allegedly found handguns in both vehicles after the crash and additionally charged Bender with weapons offenses.
He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on July 23.
A dispute between Bender and Jalessa Hall over the baby girl reportedly preceded the fatal chase and crash.
According to one account, Bender had taken the girl to the Northeast home of another female friend. When the baby’s mother learned of this, she, her sister and cousin arranged to go get the girl. Johnson was the cousin’s boyfriend.
The group met up with Bender, who reportedly gave the baby to her mother. But the arguing continued, according to the report. The mother and her group drove off with the child as Bender took up the chase.
Bender first appeared months ago on the Philadelphia Police Department’s most wanted list for violent offenders.
According to court records, he has two open drug possession cases dating from February and March of this year. He was released on bail in each case pending trial. Warrants were issued for his re-arrest on May 13 and 29.
He was arrested at least twice before as an adult. A jury found him not guilty in a November 2006 drug case. He also beat the rap in a September 2006 auto theft case but was found guilty of resisting arrest. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com