Police said one suspect is in custody while another person remains unidentified.
PHILADELPHIA, PA — A 30-year-old man has been charged with murder after police said a 45-year-old mother of four was beaten to death with bricks in a North Philadelphia alley early Sunday.
Dawaun Lewis was taken into custody Wednesday in the 2100 block of Girard Avenue, police said. He is charged with murder, robbery and related offenses in the death of Keisha Farlow, who was found in a rear alley near North 24th Street and Lehigh Avenue. Investigators said surveillance video, bloody bricks and a tip helped move the case from a public search to a murder arrest.
Police said the attack happened around 2 a.m. Sunday, June 7, in an alleyway in the city’s Strawberry Mansion section. Officers were called hours later, around 6:15 a.m., to investigate a disturbance in the alley. When they arrived, medics were already there and pronounced Farlow dead. Police said she had severe injuries to her face. Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said investigators found video showing Farlow walking with two suspects before she disappeared from the frame.
“They are walking in the area of this alleyway, and you see them go out of the frame and then immediately, when you see them minutes later, the decedent is not with them,” Vanore said. Police said Lewis is the man shown in a surveillance image released by investigators earlier in the week. The video obtained during the investigation showed a man throwing Farlow to the ground, striking her in the head with a brick and then stomping on her face and chest, police said.
Investigators said two bloodied bricks were recovered near Farlow’s body. Police said her purse was taken after the beating and later found a few blocks away, emptied of its contents. The suspected attacker and another person fled the scene, police said. As of Friday, police had not identified the second person. The motive has not been fully detailed by investigators, but robbery is among the charges filed against Lewis.
Farlow lived near the alley where she was killed, according to police and local reports. Neighbors described her as a mother of four, including an infant. Flowers and a note were placed near the scene after her death. The killing drew attention across Philadelphia because of the violence of the attack, the use of bricks as weapons and the short time between the release of surveillance images and the arrest.
KYW Newsradio reported that Lewis was identified through a tip after police released surveillance footage. The station also reported that Lewis had been charged with murder four years ago in Indianapolis in the fatal shooting of a roommate and was later acquitted by a jury. Police said Lewis also has a criminal record in New Jersey. Those earlier records are separate from the Philadelphia case now moving through the criminal courts.
Lewis remained charged Friday with murder, robbery and related offenses. Police have not announced the name of the second person seen with Farlow before the attack. Investigators are still reviewing video from the area and gathering evidence connected to the killing. No court hearing date was immediately listed in the reports reviewed Friday.
Neighbors said Farlow’s death left the block shaken. “I hope whoever did it, I hope that justice will be brought because she didn’t seem to bother anybody in this community,” neighbor Alexia Zia told WPVI. Another resident, Darnel Henry, said Farlow “didn’t cause no problems with nobody” and should not have died in the alley.
The case now stands with one suspect in custody and another person still unidentified. Philadelphia homicide detectives continue to investigate Farlow’s death as prosecutors prepare the murder and robbery case against Lewis.
Author note: Last updated June 12, 2026.