Police: Killer with 30 priors strangled recent Drexel grad
A convicted killer with more than 30 prior arrests has been charged with raping and killing a recent Drexel University graduate.
Authorities say maintenance man James Harris had recently been fired from the west Philadelphia apartment building where Jasmine Wright was strangled.
Police believe the 56-year-old Harris still had keys to the complex and was inside Wright’s apartment when she arrived home on July 16.
Homicide Chief James Clarke says Harris served time for killing his father in 1982.
Court records show prior arrests for manslaughter, rape, trespassing and indecent assault. But many of the charges were ultimately dropped.
Wright had recently graduated from Drexel’s School of Public Health.
Her mother had been on the phone with her when she heard an apparent struggle.
It’s not immediately clear if Harris has a lawyer.
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