CRACK HOUSE SLAY SUSPECTS CHARGED

PHILADELPHIA - Two men were charged Friday with killing seven people in a
drug house last month over what police called "nickel-and-dime drug
dealing." Two others were charged with weapons and drug offenses.

The massacre, the city's worst shooting in decades, stemmed from one group
of dealers undercutting the other's prices, police Capt. James Brady said.

"For literally a couple bucks, these individuals were slaughtered," he
said. "We're not talking hundreds of thousands of dollars but pennies."

Jermel Lewis, 23, and Sacon Youk, 19, were charged with seven counts of
homicide, attempted murder, aggravated assault and simple assault,
recklessly endangering another person and robbery.

It could not immediately be determined whether Youk and Lewis had
attorneys. Youk's mother, Meejain, said her son was innocent.

"If my son was in trouble, he would have come to me," she said, standing
outside the police station. "I can't believe he was implicated in this."

Samira McCoy, a sister of Lewis, said he sells cocaine but isn't a killer.

"I feel like they're trying to pin anything on anybody," she said.

The two other men were charged with drug and weapons offenses. Police would
not elaborate on the charges or identify the suspects.

Four masked men entered the house Dec. 28, forced the 10 people inside to
line up on the floor and sprayed them with bullets from at least three
different automatic weapons, police said. Seven people died, and three were
injured.

Neighbors described the house as a crack house; one of the wounded said she
rented a room in the ramshackle home for $30 a week.

The shooting prompted neighbors to call on the city to tear down abandoned
rowhouses that often become popular spots for drug users.

Shanel Harris, whose 15-year-old brother was among those killed, said one
of the suspects charged with drug and weapons offenses attended her
brother's funeral.

"The day of our brother's funeral, he comes over hugging and comforting
us," Harris said. "All along one of the guys that did this to my brother
was in our face."