PHILADELPHIA (June 10, 2026) — Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and the DAO’s Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit announced on Wednesday the First Degree Murder convictions and sentencing of Defendant Keith Gibson, who in 2021 was involved in a spree of killings that occurred throughout Philadelphia.
Defendant Keith Gibson (DOB 04/03/1982) has been convicted of the following:
- Murder (F1) (4 counts)
- Robbery (F1) (2 counts)
- VUFA 6106 (F3) (3 counts)
- Possession of Instruments of Crime (PIC) (M1) (3 counts)
In the early afternoon on Thursday, January 28, 2021, Philadelphia Police Department officers responded to the 3600 block of Germantown Avenue for a “Robbery in Progress,” where the officers found two men, Roy Caban and Erik Flores, unresponsive at the rear of the store with gun shot wounds to the chest and head, respectively. Both males were pronounced deceased at the scene. The investigation by law enforcement personnel found the weapon used was consistent with that of a revolver.
On the morning of Monday, February 8, 2021, PPD officers responded to the 4200 block of Ridge Street. When the officers arrived, they found a woman, Christine Gibson, unresponsive with a gun shot wound to her head in an office inside the United Peers Community Center. She was pronounced at the scene. Upon investigation, it was revealed in phone conversations with individuals close to the decedent that Keith Gibson, the decedent’s son, had recently been released from prison and staying with her. Christine and Keith worked on Saturdays at United Peers Community Center to conduct COVID-19 cleansing. The conversations also revealed that Christine said that she felt unsafe living with her son and expressed fear of Keith and a desire to separate herself from him.
In the early morning of Saturday, June 5, 2021, PPD officers responded to a Dunkin Donuts on the 500 block of West Lehigh Avenue. Once the officers arrived, they found a female employee, identified as Christine Lugo, fatally shot in the head. Further investigation of surveillance video with audio recovered by law enforcement officials shows the victim arriving at the store right before 6 a.m. The video shows Defendant Keith Gibson, wearing gloves, approaching Lugo and demanding her to take him to the store’s safe. The victim takes the defendant to the safe and appears to tell him that she does not have the code. She then takes something from her purse and hands it to the defendant. Christine Lugo walks Keith Gibson to the office and empties three drawers of cash, which contains about $300 in total, and gives him the money. Afterwards, the video shows the defendant checking his watch before turning towards the victim and shooting her in the head, then fleeing the store.
The next day, law enforcement investigators in Philadelphia were contacted by detectives at the Elsmere Police Department in Delaware who shared that a similar robbery and fatal shooting took place at a cell phone store in their jurisdiction on May 15, 2021. On June 8, 2021, law enforcement officials, including members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), were conducting a focus search in the broader area surrounding the scene of the homicide near the Dunkin Donuts in Philadelphia when detectives at the Wilmington Police Department in Delaware contacted Philadelphia law enforcement officials to relay that in the early hours June 8, 2021, a store employee at the Rite Aid store in Wilmington was robbed at gun point. The employee placed a tracking device in the items the defendant had taken from the store, which helped investigators locate and apprehend Keith Gibson at a house in Wilmington.
Gibson was found guilty by a Philadelphia jury on four counts of murder, along with related offenses, and was sentenced by the Honorable Giovanni Campbell to four consecutive life sentences plus 76 years in prison for the crimes he committed in Philadelphia in 2021. Gibson was also sentenced separately in 2023 to seven life sentences and an additional 296 years for the crimes he committed in Delaware.
“I want to thank ADAs Jeff Hojnowski and Katie Wood for their excellent prosecution in this case,” said District Attorney Larry Krasner. “It is because of their thorough work and collaboration with multiple law enforcement agencies that Keith Gibson’s deadly crusade has been brought to an end. This defendant has been ordered to serve a total of 11 life sentences and will spend the rest of his life thinking about the heinous crimes he committed and the communities he harmed.”
“No family deserves what the families who were impacted by this individual had to endure,” said ADA Jeff Hojnowski, Co-Chief, DAO Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit. “I want to thank my colleague ADA Katie Wood, our law enforcement partners and detectives at the Philadelphia Police Department, the Wilmington Police Department, the Elsmere Police Department, the ATF, Gabrielle Rainey of Central Division Victim Services, and our DAO Victim Services Team for their incredible collaboration and dedication to this investigation.”
“It has truly been an honor to prosecute this case alongside ADA Jeff Hojnowski,” said ADA Katie Wood, DAO Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit. “We hope that the souls of these victims can rest easier with the closure that the defendant will serve the rest of his life in prison for the heinous crimes he committed.”
“It’s true that children should be the ones who bury their parents, but no child should have to bury their parent under these circumstances,” said Francis Rodriguez, co-survivor and daughter of victim Christine Lugo. “This is a terrible loss that has had a ripple effect on all of us. We are grateful for the persistent prosecution and investigation by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department. We won’t forget our mother and the joy she brought to her community and family.”
CONTACT:
Marisa Palmer, [email protected]