A jury took just 45 minutes to convict a woman and her hitman of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Philadelphia-area teacher last year as she sat in a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru with her 11-year-old son.
Julie Jean, 35, and Zakkee Alhakim, 34, were sentenced to life in prison without parole on March 21 for the premeditated killing of Rachel King after a love triangle involving her fiancé turned sour, prosecutors said.
Following the verdicts, sheriff’s deputies surrounded the defendants and led them away in handcuffs.
King was murdered in cold blood on April 11, 2023, when a hooded gunman approached the driver’s side of her Ford Edge SUV and opened fire multiple times through her window at 7:39 a.m.
The boy was not wounded, however, his mom — a popular teacher at Grover Cleveland Mastery Charter School — was dead at age 35.
Rachel King sitting in her car with her son in the backseat. (Photo: Screenshot from Rachel King’s Facebook page)
At the time of the killing, King was engaged to be married to William Hayes, who had been cheating on her with Jean for 10 months behind her back.
Before the romance reached a full year, Hayes suddenly broke it off, telling his jilted lover that he wanted to fully commit to King, the woman he still intended to marry.
The breakup devastated Jean, who felt desperate to keep Hayes with her, prosecutors said.
And as her new reality set in, prosecutors said she became vindictive, leading to the murder plot, District Attorney Kevin Steele said in his closing argument.
Alhakim soon joined the plan as the triggerman.
Prosecutors said Jean knew Alhakim as a relative of the father of her children and entrusted him to carry out King’s murder so she could potentially rekindle her romance with Hayes.
“Vengeance can be a terrible thing,” Steele told the jury, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Vengeance in this case was deadly. Vengeance in this case took a life, the life of someone who did nothing wrong.”
King’s family was seated in the courtroom and wept as the verdicts were announced.
A few relatives read impact statements before the judge sent the killers away for life.
“It is a terrible thing to apply a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and that’s what took place,” said Allen King, the victim’s father. “Any disagreement you have with another person, you can walk away from. I just wish we could’ve talked first.”
Family members recalled King’s vibrant spirit and gregarious personality, saying she was dedicated to her career.
They expressed gratitude that Jean and Alhakim were brought to justice for the crime.
The evidence presented in the case revealed how much planning and forethought Jean and Alkahim put into the murder plot.
Text messages retrieved from Jean's phone revealed that she traveled to
