How a Delaware County shooting helped police solve a 2018 Cheltenham Township murder
A shooting in Delaware County helped police solve a 2018 murder that happened in Cheltenham Township, officials said Wednesday.
Jihad Henderson, 38, of Philadelphia, was charged with murdering 29-year-old Rithina Torn in a road rage shooting in 2018 in Cheltenham Township, officials from Montgomery and Delaware counties announced.
Henderson was already in prison when he was charged with murdering Torn on Oct. 15, 2018, at the intersection of Dewey Road and Front Street in Cheltenham Township.
In 2024, Henderson was arrested in a shooting outside a Target in Springfield Township, Delaware County. He was convicted on several charges by a jury in the shooting, and that incident led to law enforcement charging him with Torn's murder.
When the 2018 shooting happened in Cheltenham Township, one fired cartridge casing (FCC) was recovered from the scene and entered in the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), officials said. The NIBIN compares ballistic evidence from recovered firearms and shootings across the United States and notifies law enforcement of any potential leads.
In November 2024, the Montgomery County Detective Bureau was notified that an FCC recovered from the shooting outside Target in Springfield was a potential match for Torn's murder, officials said.
An investigation by two Montgomery County ballistics and firearms experts found that the bullets from the 2018 and 2024 shootings were fired by the same Glock .40 caliber handgun owned by Henderson, according to officials.
"This arrest is a testament to the power of inter-agency cooperation and our being able to help our colleagues in Montgomery County get justice for Rithina Torn. That would never have been done without the trust, respect and dialogue between our two offices," Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse said in a statement.
Henderson will be sentenced in the Delco shooting on June 29. He's awaiting arraignment on first-degree and third-degree murder charges in connection with Torn's murder. A preliminary hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
