Philadelphia police are searching for Jamal Pistoria, a 33-year-old man wanted for murder after prosecutors say he attacked three women inside a hair salon on Stenton Avenue, killing one and sexually assaulting another.
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District Attorney Larry Krasner asked the public Wednesday for help finding him, calling him extremely dangerous and saying the city must do everything it can to bring him to justice.
According to Assistant District Attorney Jeff Hojnowski, who leads the DA’s homicide unit, Pistoria walked into ABBA Blessed Beauty Salon on the 6300 block of Stenton Avenue around 2 p.m. Monday and pointed a gun at the woman working the register. He marched her at gunpoint to a small kitchen in the back where two other women were already gathered, fired a shot into the ceiling and locked the door.
Over the next six minutes, prosecutors say, Pistoria beat the women, ages 33, 34 and 44, pistol whipped them and sexually assaulted one of them. Then he shot 34-year-old Bellaniri Ofelia Hernandez Camilo multiple times. Hojnowski said she never fought him or engaged him at all. “He just decides to shoot her,” he said.
With their coworker bleeding beside them, the two surviving women realized Pistoria had run out of bullets. They fought back and overpowered him. He ran, grabbing the salon’s cash register on the way out, dropping the till and getting away with only a small amount of money.
The women were rushed to Jefferson Einstein Hospital, where Hernandez Camilo died. A GoFundMe set up by the salon says the owner, Arisleidy Pérez Gil, was also seriously hurt and needs surgery on her arm.
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Homicide detectives pulled surveillance video from the salon and nearby businesses. Prosecutors say the footage shows Jamal Pistoria in the area after the attack, including buying a soda at a corner store with his face fully visible. People who know him identified him from the video.
Authorities do not believe Pistoria knew any of the women and say the attack appears to have been random. Once he is caught, he is expected to face charges including murder, sexual assault, indecent assault, attempted murder and robbery. Police say he may still be in the West Oak Lane area near the 1500 block of Tulpehocken Street.
Court records show Pistoria was charged in Montgomery County in 2016 with burglary, robbery, making threats and drug possession. He pleaded guilty to one count of criminal trespassing the following year and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
Hernandez Camilo was a wife and mother of two who lived in Philadelphia’s Fairhill neighborhood. Police first said she was from New York City, but her husband, Francis Acosta Santos, said that was wrong. The couple moved to Philadelphia from Chile in 2022 looking for better opportunities. She started at the salon washing hair and was taking classes to become a stylist, working long hours and saving to build a house in the Dominican Republic so her family could finally be together.
Her children are 8 and 12. Her husband told the Philadelphia Inquirer he explained to their youngest that their mother is an angel now, watching over them, and that he was still figuring out how to tell their oldest, who lives in Chile. He has promised to finish the house she was working toward.
City Councilmember Anthony Phillips, whose district includes the area, called Pistoria heinous and said neighbors and business owners are deeply worried knowing he is still out there. A Philadelphia cosmetologists’ association has planned a vigil outside the salon for Monday at 4 p.m.
Anyone with information on where Jamal Pistoria may be is asked to contact Philadelphia police.
