The bag recovered blocks from Keisha Furlow’s body helped extend the investigation across a North Philadelphia neighborhood.
PHILADELPHIA — An emptied purse found several blocks from Keisha Furlow’s body became a central piece of the case against Dawaun Lewis, whom police accuse of beating the 45-year-old woman to death before carrying her property away.
The location of the purse gave investigators more than evidence of an alleged theft. It offered a possible path from the alley where Furlow died to the streets the attacker used to leave the area. Detectives could search that route for additional cameras, discarded property and witnesses who saw someone moving through the neighborhood shortly after 2 a.m. June 7. Lewis, 30, was arrested three days later and charged with murder, robbery inflicting serious bodily injury, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and possessing an instrument of crime with intent. He has not been convicted.
Police have not publicly identified what Furlow kept inside the purse. They have not said whether it contained money, identification, keys, a phone or other personal items, nor have they disclosed whether any contents were recovered elsewhere. The bag’s emptied condition supported the police account that the person who took it searched through it before discarding it. Its exact location has not been released beyond the description that it was several blocks from the alley. Investigators also have not said whether an officer, resident or sanitation worker found it. Those details could become relevant if prosecutors use the purse to trace movements or connect Lewis to property taken from Furlow.
The alleged theft followed a severe assault captured on surveillance video, according to police. Investigators said a man approached Furlow in the area of the 2600 block of North 24th Street while holding a brick. The footage appeared to show him throw her to the ground and repeatedly strike her in the head. Police said he then stomped on her face and chest. The man took the purse before running away. Authorities have not said whether he demanded the bag before using force or removed it only after the beating. That sequence could shape how prosecutors explain the robbery charge and the alleged motive for the killing.
Officers found Furlow in a rear alley near North Opal Street with devastating injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and authorities determined that she died from blunt force trauma. Two bloodied bricks lay nearby, police said. Detectives photographed and collected them as suspected weapons. The bricks and purse represent opposite ends of the event described by investigators: the objects allegedly used during the attack and the property allegedly taken afterward. Laboratory testing could identify fingerprints, DNA, blood or fibers, although police have not announced whether useful forensic material was recovered.
Physical evidence does not explain itself. Prosecutors must establish where each item was found, who collected it and how it relates to the accused. A brick in an alley may carry material from several people or none that can be identified. A purse may have been touched by its owner, relatives, store workers or others before a crime occurred. Detectives therefore compare laboratory findings with video, witness statements and the locations of the objects. They also maintain records showing how evidence was packaged, transported and stored. The defense can examine those records and challenge any gap that might affect reliability.
Surveillance footage may help connect the separate locations. Cameras could show the attacker entering the alley, leaving with the purse and passing along the route where the bag was later found. Even when a face is unclear, clothing, height, pace and direction of travel can allow investigators to compare images from different systems. Camera timestamps must also be checked because privately owned devices may not display the correct time. Police have not said how many recordings they obtained or whether one camera captured both the assault and the departure. They released still images of a man wanted for questioning on June 10.
The public appeal placed the homicide at approximately 1:59 a.m. June 7 and asked residents to help identify the person shown. Police warned people not to approach him and included information about the city’s $20,000 homicide reward. Lewis was arrested later June 10 in the 2100 block of Girard Avenue. Authorities have not disclosed whether the images prompted a tip, whether detectives recognized Lewis through earlier contacts or whether other investigative methods led officers to him. They also have not said whether any of Furlow’s missing property was found during or after the arrest.
The robbery count alleges that property was taken through force that caused serious bodily injury. It is more serious than an allegation that a person simply carried away unattended property. Prosecutors must show a connection between the force and the taking. The theft charge focuses on unlawful control of property belonging to another person, while the receiving-stolen-property count addresses possession of property known or believed to have been stolen. Filing both counts gives prosecutors alternative ways to describe conduct while the evidence is still being reviewed. A court may later determine whether all of them should remain.
The murder charge carries separate requirements concerning Furlow’s death and Lewis’ alleged responsibility. Public reports have not specified whether prosecutors plan to argue that the killing was intentional, occurred during a robbery or fits more than one legal theory. Pennsylvania law recognizes different forms of criminal homicide, and the exact theory can affect what prosecutors must prove. The instrument-of-crime charge concerns an object allegedly possessed with criminal intent. Police believe bricks were used, but a judge or jury would have to decide whether the evidence connects those objects and the person in the video to Lewis.
Another man reportedly appeared in accounts of the attack, creating the possibility of a second route, witness or participant. Authorities have not described what he did. They have not said whether he stood outside the alley, accompanied the attacker, handled the purse or left in another direction. Police also have not accused him of sharing the proceeds of the alleged robbery. Video from the path between the alley and the purse could help clarify whether one or two people traveled through the neighborhood. Until investigators release more information, his legal status and significance remain unknown.
Furlow’s family has experienced the case in terms far different from the evidence map. She was a mother of four, including an 11-month-old child, according to relatives and local reports. Friends and neighbors placed candles and flowers near the alley after her death. Family friend Alexis Stackhouse said it was painful to return to a community where she had grown up and see it connected to such violence. The value of the purse’s missing contents has not been made public, but no amount could match the loss described by those who knew Furlow.
A preliminary hearing was initially set for June 29. Prosecutors could use that proceeding to show how the purse, bricks and video support the charges. A detective might describe the route between the recovery sites, identify the person shown in the footage and explain why police arrested Lewis. The defense could question whether the purse was handled by the accused, whether the video identification is reliable and whether each charge is supported by probable cause. The hearing would not determine guilt. Its purpose would be to decide whether the case should continue toward trial.
Public reports did not confirm whether the hearing took place on the scheduled date. Court proceedings can be postponed while attorneys enter the case, evidence is exchanged or forensic testing continues. Prosecutors may also wait for information from additional cameras, phone records or witnesses. No defense statement, plea or trial date had been announced. The complete surveillance recordings and laboratory reports remained outside public view, leaving important parts of the prosecution’s evidence untested in open court.
The investigation that began beside Furlow’s body now reaches across several blocks. At one end is the alley where two suspected weapons were recovered. At the other is the place where someone abandoned her empty purse. Between them lies the route detectives are trying to reconstruct. The next stage will determine whether prosecutors can turn that trail into admissible evidence proving that Lewis carried out both the killing and robbery.
Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.