Philadelphia Man Charged With Murdering Ex-Girlfriend, Unborn Baby Near KOP Mall Knew She Was Pregnant, DA Says
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The Philadelphia man charged with gunning down his ex-girlfriend near the King of Prussia Mall is now also charged with the murder of an unborn child. Police revealed on Thursday the double murder suspect knew his ex-girlfriend was pregnant when officers say he shot and killed her and her unborn child.
Authorities released this image Thursday from a security video that police say shows 38-year-old Rafiq Thompson holding a gun moments before he fires and kills his pregnant ex-girlfriend. It happened near the King of Prussia Mall on Friday.
"In this case, Tamara Cornelius was 14 weeks pregnant. The defendant knew she was pregnant," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
Court documents also show the suspect texted and called Cornelius dozens of times just days before the deadly shooting.
"Twenty-one times he called, 93 times he texted her. Those all went unanswered," Steele said.
But authorities say the suspect requested to meet her for dinner on Friday, and Cornelius agreed to meet him. It's not clear why.
But police add that after the dinner Thompson followed Cornelius before firing at her several times.
"I know a lot about his criminal history. He's not allowed to have a weapon for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he's on state parole for a felony conviction," Steele said.
An affidavit from Thompson's most recent arrest reveals part of his criminal history. The affidavit shows he was also arrested in 2016 and later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in 2018 in connection with intentionally striking a previous ex-girlfriend with his car in Philadelphia.
The affidavit also shows Thompson was released in 2019 after serving the minimum of his three to six year sentence.
The state parole board did not return a call and email to explain who was responsible for his supervision following his release from prison.
