Four men face murder charges in the execution-style killings of a teenage girl and three adults in the basement of a Southwest Philadelphia home.

The discovery of a hidden drug stash led to the deadly Thanksgiving week shooting that shocked the community and veteran police officers.

Keith Garner, 31; Robert Long, 30; Nasir Moss-Roberson, 36; and Jahlil Porter, 32 are each charged with murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy and related offenses in the deaths of 31-year-old Maurice Taylor; Taylor's half-brother 28-year-old Akeem Mattox, 20-year-old Tiyaniah Hopkins and 17-year-old Yaleah Hall.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross called the men "very violent, vicious individuals" at an earlier news conference.

Taylor and Mattox were renovating the home where they were killed. Homicide Capt. John Ryan said the men discovered illegal drugs hidden in either that home or another property they were renovating.

The men apparently tried to broker a deal with Porter and the others to sell the drugs back. Ryan said the suspects were planning to rob the victims, but it escalated into an execution.

"It was terrible. They were all laid on the ground and they were basically executed," Ryan said.

All four victims were shot in the head. At least one victim knew one of the accused, Ryan said.

The female victims, Hopkins and Hall, weren't aware of the drug sell-back and became innocent bystanders, according to Ryan.

The night of the killings a neighbor heard loud bangs, but didn't call police because they thought it was construction work, police said. Investigators believe those sounds were the fatal gunshots. 

A portion of the drug stash was recovered. 

Porter was arrested Last month. 

Garner, Moss-Robertson and Long were arrested earlier this month.

All the men are being held without bail. Long's attorney had no comment while Porter's public defender didn't reply to NBC10's request for comment. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment on behalf of Garner and Moss-Robertson.

Potentially flooding rains could put a damper on early holiday travel and the start of the final shopping weekend before Christmas.

The NBC10 First Alert Weather Team has issued a First Alert for thunderstorms, heavy rain, localized flooding, coastal flooding and strong disruptive winds from 9 p.m. Thursday through 9 p.m. Friday.

"It's going to impact millions along the East Coast, causing significant travels delays," NBC10 First Alert Weather meteorologist Steve Sosna said. "It's a pack your patience kind of situation."

The rain will start sporadically in some areas Thursday afternoon before the storm gels heading into Friday.

Here is a timeline so you can plan that trip to grandmother’s house or to pick up grandma’s gift accordingly:

• Thursday late afternoon: Light rain and clusters of showers
• Thursday after 7 p.m.: Storm starts to come together
• Late Thursday night through Friday morning commute: Heavy downpours, potential flooding
• Midday Friday: Possible lull in rain
• Friday afternoon through evening commute: More heavy rain, possible thunderstorms
• Saturday morning: Showery conditions could linger

The worst of the flooding is expected for most of Friday. There is no threat of snow as high temps Friday are expected to push into the 60s.

The springlike storm is part of a system that is expected to affect millions of people up and down the East Coast. "It’s a high impact storm for much of the East Coast," Steve said.

If you have a flight, check your status before heading to the airport as the storm in other popular tourist destinations from Florida and Atlanta (where it is expected be strongest Thursday) to Washington, D.C. through Boston (where the storm is expected to hit hardest Friday) could leave flights grounded or delayed. Expect slow driving conditions and possible train delays as well.

If you plan on checking the final items off your Christmas list or doing some grocery shopping for the Seven Fishes, strong winds gusting to 40 mph, or stronger, could make for a tough walk through the store parking lot even after the rain clears Saturday.

Everything calms for a chillier and sunny Sunday, so, that may be the day to pick up all your last-minute Christmas needs.

"Sunday is the pick of the weekend," Steve said.

Go Eagles, beat the Texans!

What about Christmas? Possible rain and/or snow showers could hit Christmas Eve morning but nothing major is expected. Expect partial sunshine and a high in the low 40s on Christmas.

Stick with the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team on air and in our app throughout the long holiday weekend for any developments and changes to the forecast.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, is helping to spread some holiday cheer to thousands of local children. They are doing it with a gift of music, which happens to be the casino's strong suit.

The Saturday before Christmas isn’t called Super Saturday for no reason. It rivals Black Friday and is dedicated to all last minute shoppers. NBC10 Responds Reporter Harry Hairston has a few tips for those shoppers to keep in mind.

Children at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware had a special visitor Wednesday. The Grinch!

There are growing concerns about an item that could be on your child's Christmas list. Toy guns that look way too much like the real thing. Many parents are now demanding for stores to get rid of them.

Wegmans has announced recalls for several products containing cauliflower because they may be contaminated with E. coli.

The supermarket chain announced Wednesday that it was recalling 1-pound bags and 8-ounce bags of Wegmans Cauliflower Rice, 1-pound bags of Wegmans Stir Fry Blend with cauliflower and Wegmans Veggie Rice Blend with cauliflower, which is sold by the pound.

The impacted products were sold in the produce department between Dec. 7 and Dec. 18. They were available in 98 Wegmans locations in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

Cleveland-based Produce Packaging, Inc. supplied the products to Wegmans and initiated the recall.

While no illnesses have been reported, Wegmans notes that E. coli causes a diarrheal illness and can cause blood in stools. The bacteria carries a risk of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, a form of kidney failure that can be fatal. It is most likely to occur in young children and elderly people, the chain said.

Customers are asked to return impacted products to Wegmans for full refunds. Anyone with questions is asked to call 1-855-934-3663.

A former boyfriend of Jersey Shore star Jennifer “J-Woww” Farley has been accused of extorting the reality star.

Thomas Lippolis tried to extort $25,000 from Farley to not tell secrets about her to the media, according to Toms River Police Department.

Police say Farley learned about the scheme through her publicist, who received a phone call from Lippolis demanding the money.

In the past,  Lippolis has said he was more than just a boyfriend. Back in 2010, the ex-boyfriend and former manager of Farley sued the reality star for allegedly cheating him out of his profit. It's not clear how the case concluded.

Lippolis was booked Wednesday and is facing extortion charges.

A 2-year-old boy who was paralyzed from the waist down following a devastating crash is getting a special gift thanks to a group of carpenters. They're building him a ramp outside his home so that he won't have to be carried in and out. The boy's mother, who is also re-learning how to walk after the crash, spoke about how thankful she is.

Police in Camden, New Jersey, are asking for the public’s help to track down a missing 8-year-old.

Aashir Brown want missing from his Hunter Street home in Camden’s Morgan Village neighborhood Wednesday night, Camden County Police said.

The 8-year-old stands around 4-foot, 9-inches tall and weighs about 60 pounds, police said.

“He was last seen wearing a red polo shirt, short khaki pants, a black North Face jacket and black Timberland boots and carrying a blue book bag,” police said.

Aashir is known to hang out the Crestbury Apartments, police said.

Anyone who spots Aashir or with information is asked to call the police tip line at (856) 757-7042.

Neighbors along Camden's Cedar Street went door-to-door to help everyone escape a fast-moving row home fire. A firefighter, police officer, three adults and three children were hurt. At least four homes were destroyed just days before Christmas. 

The holiday season is a great time to help "Clear the Shelters" and give the gift of a forever furry friend. Emily Craft from Providence Animal Center introduces us to Shark Boy and Lava Girl, part of a special Christmas Eve adoption event.

A former Lehigh University student is accused of trying to poison his longtime roommate to death and vandalizing the victim's possessions with racist graffiti, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli announced Thursday morning.

Yukai Yang, a 22-year-old Chinese national, is charged with attempted murder and related charges, Morganelli said. He was earlier charged with ethnic intimidation. 

Investigators first zeroed in on the suspect after his roommate, who is African American, reported earlier this year that his belongings had been vandalized and scrawled with the N-word, Morganelli said.

Yang was living in the U.S. on a student visa, which has since been revoked, officials said.

As police continued to investigate, they noticed the victim, a senior at the time, appeared to be sick. The victim told police that he had been ill for some time and contacted law enforcement officials in March after uncontrollably vomiting. During that time, police officers were called to his room on multiple occasions and found a racially-charged note on the victim's desk.

The victim told investigators he remembered drinking from a bottle and his tongue starting to burn, officials said.

Blood tests later revealed an increased level of thallium, which was once used as a household rodent or ant killer but has since been banned in the United States, in the victim's blood. 

Yang told investigators he saw the victim's milk and mouthwash change color and that he believed someone was tampering with items in the room, Morganelli said.

Yang, a chemistry student, admitted to buying thallium online with the purpose of poisoning himself if his grades went down, Morganelli said. 

"This was over a period of time with ... thallium being added to foods and drinks in the refrigerator," Morganelli said. "He was getting worse all the time."

Investigators said the victim was initially "dumbfounded" by the attacks as the two had been roommates for several years and always appeared to get along.

Thallium exposure can lead to nausea, painful limbs, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, kidney damage and nerve damage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The victim, who has since graduated, is still suffering from ill effects of the thallium poisoning.

Yang was jailed as he awaited a court hearing on the new attempted murder charges. Yang's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

This story will be updated to reflect the latest developments.

The owners of Maria's Mom's Italian Cookie Cupboard in Marlton, New Jersey, are giving back to the community in a big way. Find out how.

A 40-year-old woman was charged in the 1992 fatal shooting of a 12-year-old New Jersey girl, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The woman, who at one point lived in Asbury Park, but now resides in Henderson, North Carolina, is facing charges of aggravated manslaughter in connection with the killing of Quiana Dees, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher K. Gramiccioni said.

Because the woman was 13 years old at the time of the Dees killing, the charge has been issued as a juvenile delinquency complaint and she faces a maximum prison term of four years. Because of confidentiality in juvenile cases, the woman’s name has not been made public and the case will be heard in Monmouth County Family Court, Juvenile Division.

Additionally, the juvenile statues in effect at the time of the crime also preclude the possibility of the case being sent to adult criminal court, Gramiccioni said.

Dees' mother Penny Dees and the community have marched for 26 years in Neptune, hoping and praying for justice for Quiana. Now the marching can come to an end, with a mother's quest for justice over. 

"If she don't get any time, I'm satisfied because I have closure," said Penny Dees, adding she was grateful to the prosecutor's office for everything they'd done. 

Dees was discovered unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head and clinging to live in a vacant wooded lot on Washington Avenue in Neptune Township on the morning of May 2, 1992. Dees, who was in the seventh grade at the time of her death, left her Asbury Park apartment the previous evening, prosecutors said. She was pronounced dead on May 3, 1992.

"She didn't do parties," Penny Dees told News 4 New York on Thursday. "I didn't allow that, so she did go to the party by sneaking out of the house. I knew somebody had to persuade her, because it's not something she would have done on her own." 

The suspect remains detained in North Carolina, pending her extradition back to New Jersey to face this charge, prosecutors say.

Penny Dees says she has one more march ahead, this time a victory march next May.

"That's my celebration in March for getting justice for my daughter," she said. 

The devastating opioid crisis has led to a big push against drug dealers in parts of the Jersey Shore. Atlantic and Ocean counties are among the most agresssive in New Jersey when it comes to prosecuting people responsible for overdose deaths. 

Investigators are trying to determine what caused a fire that destroyed several row homes along Cedar Street in Camden on Thursday morning. Six people were taken to the hospital for injuries and smoke inhalation. Four families were displaced after the fire.

[[480275613, L,200,74]]NBC10 is one of 19 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push towards economic justice. Follow us at @BrokeInPhilly.

Mayor Jim Kenney signed into law legislation that will gradually raise the minimum wage for Philadelphia's city workers, as well as a bill that will guarantee predictable schedules for some 130,000 hourly employees in the service and hospitality industries.

“Today is a huge win for Philadelphia workers,” Mayor Jim Kenney said Thursday. “The Fair Work Week and Minimum Wage bills will go a long way to ensuring that our hard-working residents have the dignity of stable employment and a steady schedule."

The 21st Century Minimum Wage bill will gradually raise the minimum wage governing employees of contractors and subcontractors, as well as city workers, to $15 an hour.

Under the legislation, the minimum wage of approximately 2,000 city workers will rise from the current rate of $12.20 an hour, under the following schedule:

• $13.25 / hour as of July 1, 2019

• $13.75 / hour as of July 1, 2020

• $14.25 / hour as of July 1, 2021

• $15.00 / hour as of July 1, 2022

The minimum wage standard will continue to rise based on annual consumer price index adjustments once it hits $15 per hour.

Meanwhile, the Fair Workweek bill will require certain standards for employees, including reasonable notice of schedules, rest time between shifts and opportunities for additional hours.

City council passed the bill last Thursday to cheers and thunderous applause. Only three council members voted against the bill, including Councilman Brian O'Neil who said he objected because the ordinance does not exempt workers already protected by union agreements.

"It should," he said as people jeered.

The bill, first introduced over the summer by Councilwoman Helen Gym and seven co-sponsors, will apply to large chain businesses with more than 250 employees in the retail, food or hospitality sectors with at least 30 locations across the country or state.

Inspired by similar legislation enacted in other cities, such as New York and Seattle, the ordinance will guarantee at least 11 hours rest time between shifts, opportunities to work additional hours and provide for enforcement and penalties if an employer does not comply.

Several business associations, however, were disappointed with the bill despite amendments introduced to quell fears that Philadelphia's job growth could slow down as a result of fair workweek.

“In the long run, it’s going to hurt the industry,” Ed Grose, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, told NBC10. “We feel that we take care of our people."

The amendments included new exemptions for employers to staff last-minute ticketed events and large banquets and added language allowing employees to voluntarily change their schedules.

Perhaps most significantly, however, language was removed from the original bill prohibiting under-scheduling, or the practice of not scheduling enough hours per employee. Gym removed that provision because she felt the bill as written provided sufficient worker protections, the councilwoman said.

“This is a city council that is dedicated to ending poverty and supporting working families,” she said. “This is a bill that will do that.”

According to 2015 U.S. Census data, at least a quarter of Philadelphia’s service employees work part time. Many of these retail and service industry workers frequently face unpredictable schedules that change as often as the seasons.

The Fair Workweek ordinance will go into effect on January 1, 2020.

Two former workers at a Chester County youth center are accused of encouraging two children with intellectual and developmental disabilities to fight each other, recording the fight, posting it on social media and laughing about it.

Anthony Merrick, 25, of Coatesville, and Rayne Portela, 24, of Glenside, were both arrested and charged with failure to report or refer, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and harassment.

Officials say the incident took place at the Devereux Kanner Center in West Whiteland Township back on July 5. 

Officials say Merrick and Portela, who both worked at the center, observed two children, ages 12 and 13, fighting each other. Surveillance video showed Merrick and Portela watching the children fight and not intervening, investigators said.

Portela only stopped the fight briefly when the boys started kicking each other and a second time to wipe blood from one of the children, according to court documents.

“It’s child abuse again when you’re encouraging minors, and in this case, they’re not just minors but they have disabilities, which is why they were at Devereux,” West Whiteland Township Police Detective Scott Peizak said.

Investigators determined Merrick encouraged one of the children to fight the other and even recorded the incident on his cellphone. He also allegedly showed Portela the video and shared it with her through Snapchat. Neither employee filed a report which is required by their mandated reporter position at the facility, investigators said.

A third employee who witnessed the incident emailed a supervisor to report the incident when it occurred in July, investigators said. Despite this, police say they were not notified until a parent of one of the children reported it to them in October.

“The information did not come from Devereux. It came from the parent several months later,” Peizak said.

Merrick and Portela both turned themselves in at District Court in Exton on Thursday.

While the suspects no longer work for Devereux, NBC10 learned Merrick was still working as a youth counselor at another facility after the incident. A judge ordered that Merrick could no longer work there however and he and Portela are not allowed to have any contact with children.

NBC10 reached out to Devereux to ask why the alleged incident was not reported to police initially in July.  A spokesperson from Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health responded with the following statement.

“In the time since this incident, we have had a series of very productive and positive meetings with local law enforcement. In fact, we provided law enforcement with the security video of the incident which they relied on to file these charges. The use of security cameras is not required in our programs, but we have proactively implemented a policy of employing video technology as an added safety measure. We are one of the few agencies in the state to do so.”
 
“Our staff receive comprehensive training before working in our programs, as well as regular child abuse clearances and FBI screenings. On an on-going basis they are provided with re-trainings on safe and effective practices that support our philosophy of care.
 
If a staff member allegedly violates our standards, we are more upset and outraged than anyone, and we are grateful to law enforcement for their assistance in helping us to provide safe, effective and compassionate programs.”

An intense two-alarm destroyed row homes in Camden. Fortunately five families managed to escape the flames.