Man sentenced to 40-80 years in prison for role in fatal 2022 Roxborough High School shooting, DA says

A man was sentenced to at least four decades behind bars for his role in the fatal shooting outside Roxborough High School in 2022 and the murder of another teen the following year, Philadelphia officials announced Friday. 

Zaakir McClendon, 21, was sentenced to 40 to 80 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two third-degree murder charges and related counts, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's office said. McClendon was the sixth and last defendant arrested in connection with a shooting outside Roxborough High School in September 2022, Krasner's office said. Fourteen-year-old Nicolas Elizalde, of Havertown, was killed in that shooting, and four other teens were wounded. 

Police said the victims were leaving a football scrimmage via the 300 block of Fairway Terrace when five people got out of an SUV and opened fire. 

Elizalde was not the intended target in the Roxborough shooting, according to police. Today, a garden and mural at Roxborough High School honor Elizalde's life.

McClendon was arrested nearly three years after the shooting. He was also the third person arrested for the April 2023 murder of Nafis Betrand-Hill in North Philadelphia, the DA's office said.