Homicide Victim Planned Meeting With Gang Member, Police Say

Ian Juma, the young man shot and killed on a tree-lined West Bethehem street last month, had arranged to meet with a gang member for a drug deal before his death.

That's according to the Express-Times, citing court records from the arrest of the man Juma was allegedly meeting with on the night of June 29.

Court records show that Darrell Turner, 20, was charged Monday night with drug charges. No one has been charged yet with Juma's killing. 

The newspaper says Juma had texted Turner with plans to sell him marijuana.

Juma, 21, was shot at the rear of 744 Eighth Ave., a picturesque corner property between two entrances to Route 378. There is an alley directly behind the property—Garden Street—that runs south from tree-lined Lyons Street.

The shooting happened at about 10:20 p.m. and Juma was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s University Hospital about two hours later.

Juma’s family moved to Bethlehem from Kenya when he was in grade school and Juma graduated from Liberty High School in 2011, according to a family friend who was quoted by The Morning Call.

Juma is survived by a 2-year-old son, Denzel, and longtime girlfriend, Jasmine Brown, the newspaper reported.

Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin has said that the shooting was not random. 

Juma is the third homicide victim in the city this year.

Joseph Rodriguez, 25, of South Bethlehem, was shot in the headon June 2 during a fight among multiple people in the Lynfield section of the city. Lucas Cabassa, 17, turned himself in on homicide charges on June 4.

Tyree Wimberly, 21, of Allentown was gunned down Jan. 26 as he walked past Scoobie's Gentleman's Club, which sits at the border between Allentown and Bethlehem at 2327 Hanover Ave.

Police continue to search for suspect Ulysses "Slime" Rodriguez, 20, in that shooting.