Suspect in shootings at U. turns self in

Kyle McLemore allegedly shot four people near the Palestra following a high school basketball game. A South Philadelphia man wanted by police in connection with the March 1 shooting outside the Palestra that left one man dead and three other people wounded turned himself in yesterday, two days after Philadelphia Police issued a warrant for his arrest. Kyle McLemore, 21, of the 1300 block of South 29th Street in the city's Grays Ferry section -- located south of the University across the Schuylkill River -- surrendered himself at about 6:30 p.m. yesterday at the Center City office of his lawyer, Charles Peruto Jr., according to detectives at the Philadelphia Police Department's homicide unit. Peruto could not be reached for comment yesterday. McLemore is currently in custody at the Police Administration Building at 8th and Race streets. He has been charged with murder, three counts of aggravated assault and several related charges. A judge will determine at a March 25 hearing whether the evidence homicide detectives have amassed is sufficient to uphold the charges. McLemore allegedly shot and killed Anthony Davis, 22, of the 1400 block of North 16th Street, after the Philadelphia Public League high school basketball championships at the Palestra. McLemore also allegedly shot and wounded Davis' companion, Jeffrey Noble, 19, of the 800 block of North 16th Street; their acquaintance, Latisha Feribee, 20, of the 1600 block of Bailey Street; and College senior John La Bombard, 22, who was hit by a stray bullet as he worked on a project in the Blauhaus, the blue Fine Arts shed on 33rd Street between Walnut and Chestnut streets. Kane said McLemore "frequented" an area around 5th and Washington streets in South Philadelphia, but he refused to say whether he believed McLemore was a drug dealer. Davis also frequented the same area, and the feud between Davis and McLemore was deep-rooted, according to Kane. Homicide detectives obtained a warrant for McLemore's arrest Saturday, after nearly two weeks of sifting through the statements of dozens of witnesses and following anonymous tips. According to residents, police began their search the same day as the shooting by breaking down the door of the Grays Ferry rowhouse where McLemore lived with his mother. A new door was installed yesterday, residents said. Police refused to release any information regarding McLemore's criminal record. But residents of his block in Grays Ferry said the house McLemore occupied had been the scene of "problems" the year before, when police had reportedly escorted a man from the house in handcuffs. Davis, who had a lengthy criminal record, was a primary suspect in a February 22 shooting at 6th and Washington streets which injured two passersby, a 16-year-old girl and a 41-year-old man, according to a spokesperson from Philadelphia Police Department's South Detectives bureau. Kane said he did not know if McLemore was Davis' target. Many residents of McLemore's block said they knew very little of the suspect, who moved into the neighborhood with a middle-aged woman thought to be his mother after a long-time resident died about two years ago.

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