Corey Gaynor, a 26-year-old man, was charged Tuesday evening with murder for the homicide he allegedly committed near 40th and Spruce streets early Tuesday morning.
Gaynor was also charged with aggravated assault for Tuesday’s incident near Copabanana, as well as altering identification marks on a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia, possession of a criminal instrument with intent to use it and resisting arrest. His preliminary hearing is set for April 30 and he was denied bail for these charges.
Gaynor was also charged separately for aggravated and simple assault for Tuesday morning’s incident.
He attempted to flee the scene, but was apprehended near 40th and Pine streets, where he was taken into custody and where Penn Police also found a semiautomatic gun that matches the ballistics from the scene. Multiple witnesses positively identified him as the individual who fired the shots, police said.
Gaynor, who lives on 54th Street, has a criminal history that involves the possession of weapons and certain drugs, according to Philadelphia court records.
In 2008, he pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm in public in Philadelphia. He was sentenced in 2009 to a minimum of 11 and a half months, with a maximum of 23 months, along with three years of probation.
When Gaynor was arrested for carrying a firearm in public in 2007, he was also arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute it, possession of a criminal instrument with intent to use it and criminal conspiracy. The District Attorney’s office dropped the other charges when Gaynor pled guilty to carrying firearms.
There were additional charges filed against Gaynor when he was arrested in 2007 which were not brought to trial — they were dismissed at a lower court due to lack of evidence. The dismissed charges included altering identification marks on a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and the use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Gaynor has had a total of seven other charges filed against him in Philadelphia court, but all of the charges have been dismissed.
In March 2008, Gaynor was also arrested for receiving stolen property, a charge that was dismissed due to lack of evidence.
Later that year, Gaynor was arrested on a number of drug charges, including the use of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana and the intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance. The charges were dismissed when the prosecutor’s office failed to file relevant papers by a certain date, indicating to the court that the office was no longer interested in pursuing the case.
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