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City Commissioners staffer slain in front of mother's home, one of 4 weekend homicides

As a staffer in the Philadelphia City Commissioners office, Leonard Boyer III helped to make sure every voter's voice counted on Election Day.

As a staffer in the Philadelphia City Commissioners office, Leonard Boyer III helped to make sure every voter's voice counted on Election Day.

But Boyer's own voice was silenced Saturday when two gunmen fatally shot him in broad daylight in front of his mother's North Philadelphia home, according to police.

Boyer, 25, was one of four weekend homicide victims identified Monday by police. As of 11:59 p.m. Sunday, the city's murder tally stood at 181 people, up from 166 at the same time last year, according to Police Department statistics.

City Commissioner Al Schmidt said that he hired Boyer in 2014 to help train election board officials to work at polling locations, but that during peak election season, as it is now, Boyer wore many hats and often worked overtime.

"Leonard was a great employee. He was very dedicated to his job," Schmidt said. "He was always available to go wherever we needed him whenever we needed him."

In fact, Boyer had worked on the day of his death conducting voting machine demonstrations, Schmidt said. When his coworkers learned of his slaying, they were devastated, Schmidt said.

"It was just complete disbelief," Schmidt said. "We're a small city department, and everybody works closely together. This was somebody we saw and worked with every day."

Boyer was shot in his back and head at 5 p.m. by two unidentified men as he got out of his car on the 600 block of North 12th Street, just blocks from the popular Union Transfer concert venue, police said.

"They didn't take anything," Homicide Capt. James Clark said of the shooters. "They just ran up on him and executed him."

Boyer was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:28 p.m.

Clark said Boyer was a young father and a college graduate who had never been arrested.

"We're asking the public's help," Clark said. "He was a good kid."

Among the city's other homicide victims over the weekend was Andrew Hazelton, 33, of Blackwood, who died Sunday afternoon from a stab wound to the neck he received inside a bar in Old City early Saturday, police said.

According to authorities, Hazelton was at a table with five women inside the Bleu Martini, on the unit block of Second Street, when an argument broke out between the people at his table and patrons at the next table.

One of the men at the neighboring table stabbed Hazelton in the neck with an unknown object around 1:50 a.m., police said. Hazelton was able to run outside and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. Sunday.

Police said the alleged assailant stayed at the scene and was taken into custody, but authorities have not released his name or any charges he might face.

At 12:55 a.m. Saturday on the 800 block of East Hilton Street in Kensington, Nacier Robinson, 21, was shot several times in his head, neck, and face, police said. Robinson, of the 3100 block of Weymouth Street, was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:50 a.m. Police said no arrests have been made in the case, and the motive for Robinson's slaying is unknown.

Around 7:25 a.m. Sunday, Gordon Branch, 36, was found with blunt-force trauma to the back of his head on the 4100 block of North Broad Street in Nicetown, police said. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:38 a.m.

Police said Branch, of the 1300 block of Jerome Street, was involved in an altercation, and an unidentified person of interest is in custody.

A $20,000 reward is available for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any homicide suspect. Tipsters are asked to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or 911.

farrs@phillynews.com

215-854-4225 @FarFarrAway

Staff writer Chris Palmer contributed to this article.