Darby cops try to retrace last steps of murdered man
“The information we have at the present time is the victim was out front on the front steps. He was approached by one or more subjects, we’re not sure. A conversation ensued where gunshots were fired. He then, from our investigation so far, attempted to flee back to the front door, which led to the second floor, which was his grandmother’s apartment. He made it as far as the front door.” — Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe
DARBY BOROUGH >> Police are asking for help to retrace the steps of an unarmed 27-year-old Clifton Heights man before he was fatally gunned down outside his grandmother’s borough apartment in the wee hours Tuesday.
Darryl ”Deek” Curry was known to frequent the borough, as well as his grandmother’s residence in the 100 block of North Sixth Street, Police Chief Robert Smythe said at a press conference late Tuesday afternoon. Smythe released a photograph of Curry.
“If you know him, or seen him between midnight and 2 a.m., we are trying to find out where he was, what was going on and who he was with,” the chief said.
According to Smythe, police were dispatched to the area of Sixth and Fern streets following reports of shots fired and shots fired with a victim, shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday. Arriving officers found Curry on a porch in the 100 block of Sixth Street, unresponsive and collapsed at the front door with multiple gunshots to his torso.
Officers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to no avail.
When paramedics arrived within seven minutes of police, according to Smythe, Curry was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:14 a.m.
With detectives still out working the case, Smythe said preliminary information was scant.
“The information we have at the present time is the victim was out front on the front steps. He was approached by one or more subjects, we’re not sure. A conversation ensued where gunshots were fired. He then, from our investigation so far, attempted to flee back to the front door, which led to the second floor, which was his grandmother’s apartment.
“He made it as far as the front door,” Smythe said.
Bullets also pierced the apartment building, though no other injuries were reported.
According to Smythe, robbery appears to be the motive, but Curry does not appear to have been a random target.
“We believe his assailant(s) wanted to kill him,” he said. Curry was not armed, Smythe said. While official cause and manner of death are pending a ruling by the Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office, Smythe said Curry’s death marked the first homicide for the borough in 2016. To date, there have been 24 homicides in Delaware County.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Darby Borough police headquarters at 610- 586-1100.