Alleged street gang leader pleads guilty to shooting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/05/2010

Alleged street gang leader pleads guilty to shooting | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/05/2010: "Gray's Ferry street gang notorious for gunfights with rivals pleaded guilty Monday to a 2007 shooting in a deal that will send him to prison for four to 15 years.
Tyrik Upchurch, 22, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime on what was to have been the first day of his trial in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.
Judge Sandy L.V. Byrd accepted the plea deal and immediately sentenced Upchurch in the Oct. 14, 2007 shooting of Jujuan Hinton, 27.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lipscomb told the judge that Hinton was in a hack cab in the 2800 block of Wharton Street when Upchurch walked up and fired six shots, hitting Hinton five times.
Hinton survived and, in a hospital interview, identified Upchurch as his shooter, Lipscomb said. However, Hinton later recanted and said he did not know why he was targeted.
Upchurch's new sentence will run concurrently with a five- to 10-year term begun in 2008 after he was convicted in another gang-related shootout on March 25, 2007. In that incident, two girls ages 9 and 12 were wounded in cross fire in the 1400 block of South Etting Street.
The jury acquitted Upchurch of involvement in the shooting but convicted him of witness intimidation, Lipscomb said."