Instagram account on iPhone dropped at murder scene leads to suspect, PA official says
A dropped iPhone led to charges in a death from August 2021 in Pennsylvania, the district attorney announced in a news release on April 14.
Hakeem Montes, an 18-year-old from Chester, has been charged in the Aug. 7 murder of 19-year-old Samad Montgomery, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said in the release.
Montes has been charged with criminal homicide and murder of the first, second and third degree, as well as conspiracy and firearm charges.
Two others, ages 18 and 19, have also been charged in connection to the murder.
Officials say it was an illegal gun sale gone wrong that led to the death of Montgomery, and it was a dropped phone that led to evidence against the teens charged.
“In the present case, four teenagers were engaged in arranging a gun transaction. One lost his life, and the other three will spend their lives paying for their actions,” Stollsteimer said in the release.
Police found Montgomery unresponsive in the street in Chester with multiple gunshot wounds on the morning of August 7, the district attorney detailed in the release. He was pronounced dead on the scene. An abandoned iPhone XR was recovered nearby.
“An extensive analysis of cell phone data” uncovered calls and text messages regarding the selling of firearms, along with call logs to Montogomery, leading up to his death, the release said.
Fingerprint analysis recovered prints from one of the teens charged, and an audio message identified the other teen charged in connection to the crime. Officials also discovered the iPhone XR was used by Montes under a different cell phone number, and he was involved in the conversations regarding the sale of a gun, the release said.
Montes’ Instagram account also provided “further corroboration” of his connection and involvement in the murder, officials said.
Chester is just southwest of Philadelphia, along the Delaware River.
This story was originally published April 15, 2022 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Instagram account on iPhone dropped at murder scene leads to suspect, PA official says."
