Julie Jean, 35, and Zakkee Alhakim, 34, have been sentenced to life in prison on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy for coordinating and carrying out the “assassination” of Rachel King, a Philadelphia teacher who was fatally shot in a Cheltenham Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru line with her 11-year-old son in the car in March 2023.
Alhakim is from Philadelphia and Jean lived on the 7600 block of Washington Lane, Elkins Park.
The trial, which began March 18 and concluded March 21, lasted approximately 45 minutes on Thursday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Vengeance can be a terrible thing,” District Attorney Kevin Steele said in his closing arguments. “Vengeance in this case was deadly. Vengeance in this case took a life, the life of someone who did nothing wrong.”
In establishing a motive, Steele said Jean was jealous of King, who was dating a man Jean previously had an affair with.
“It is a terrible thing to apply a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and that’s what took place,” Rachel’s father, Allen King, said. “Any disagreement you have with another person, you can walk away from. I just wish we could’ve talked first.”
Prosecutors alleged that Jean gave Alhakim $500 the day before he purchased an untraceable “ghost gun” to use in the murder, and that he used Jean’s Mercury Sable to follow and ambush King the day she was murdered.
Jean later deleted text messages and call logs from her phone reflecting those purchases, as well as news articles about King’s killing, The Inquirer said.
“I cannot wait to hold that little boy and tell him that the people who murdered his mother have been held accountable,” Ahyana King, Rachel King’s sister, told NBC10.
“We are so thankful for all the hard work that paid off by everyone in this department,” Rachel King’s mother, Carol King, said. “The DA’s office just incredible. We’re thankful to God for just giving us the strength to go through this.”
“There really were no winners today. This was not a winning situation at all,” King’s father, Rev. Allen King, said. “My daughter is gone. This does not bring her back. We’re glad to have memories of her but my heart grieves. Aches.”
In January, Alhakim and Jean took part in a pretrial hearing for their alleged connections to the murder.
For NBC10’s video coverage, you can watch below:
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Screengrabs: NBC10