PHILADELPHIA (January 9, 2023) — District Attorney Larry Krasner and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Homicide and Non-Fatal Shooting Unit announced the conviction of Patrick Woolfork (DOB 8/3/1991) for his role in the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Elliot Cortes in the city’s Kensington section in April of 2017.In the early morning hours of April 1, 2017, Woolfork and another suspect approached the decedent at the corner of North 2nd Street and Westmoreland Street in what investigators believe may have been a robbery attempt that resulted in Cortes being fatally shot in the head. Police recovered various pieces of video showing Woolfork and his co-conspirator interacting with Cortes and then following the decedent toward his residence. Several minutes later, Woolfork and the co-conspirator reappeared on video without the decedent present. Emergency personnel shortly thereafter responded to the victim who was found unresponsive on the 3300 block of North 2nd Street.
A law enforcement officer from a neighboring county who has known Woolfork for many years was able to positively identify the defendant and later testified to this fact at trial. Woolfork was arrested in August of 2018. Despite surveillance video never capturing the murder, nor any witness coming forward to provide a statement to police, a Philadelphia jury found Woolfork guilty of Third Degree Murder late last year. “Assistant District Attorney Lauren Crump did an outstanding job with this prosecution, particularly given the limited evidence available to her in this case,” said DA Krasner. “Despite the challenges present in this case, including no confession provided by Woolfork, ADA Crump convinced a jury of this defendant’s guilt and was able to secure justice for the Commonwealth.”“Holding Mr. Cortes’ killer accountable would not have been possible without the excellent investigation conducted by Philadelphia Police Detectives Timothy Scally and Thorsten Lucke,” said ADA Crump of the DAO’s Homicide and Non-Fatal Shooting Unit. “I’m also grateful to members of the jury who made the correct decision to take this dangerous individual off of the streets and help make our communities safer for everyone.”Patrick Woolfork is scheduled for sentencing before the Hon. Rose DeFino-Nastasi in late January.
CONTACT:Dustin Slaughter, 215-686-8713, [email protected]
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The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is the largest prosecutor’s office in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest in the nation. It serves the more than 1.5 million residents of the City and County of Philadelphia, employing 600 lawyers, detectives, and support staff. The District Attorney’s Office is responsible for the prosecution of approximately 40,000 criminal cases annually. Learn more about the DAO by visiting PhillyDA.org.