Hearing postponed for Sharpnack Street murder suspect

A preliminary hearing for the 19 year-old man charged in the killing of an East Mt. Airy man has been postponed at the request of the District Attorney’s office.

Brian Tootle, of East Germantown is charged with murder, conspiracy murder and possession of an instrument of crime with intent in the July 27 shooting on the 200 block of E. Sharpnack Street.

Nafis Armstead, 23, was shot in the head, chest, back and three times in his leg. He was pronounced dead soon after at Albert Einstein Medical Center. The surviving victim, Gerald Jones, 26, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso.

Assistant District Attorney, Richard Sax requested the continuance. A.D.A. Sax stated a witness subpoena has not yet been issued because Jones, the state’s witness is still hospitalized as a result of being critically wounded in the gunfire.

Sax assured Armstead’s wife, Diamond, and brother, Ali, that the defendant will be held without bail until the hearing. “This was a straight-out execution,” he remarked.

Tootle will await his court appearance inside the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, 7901 State Road in the city’s Holmesburg neighborhood.