Man Sentenced For Murder Of Havertown Boy In Mass Shooting Near A Philly School

PHILADELPHIA — A man was sentenced to decades in prison for the murders of two teenage boys in Philadelphia, including a mass shooting that killed a Havertown resident and injured four other kids after a football scrimmage outside a Philadelphia high school.

Zaakir McClendon, 21, was sentenced to 40 to 80 years behind bars for the murders of 14-year-old Nicolas Elizalde outside of Roxborough High School and 16-year-old Nafis Betrand-Hill in North Philadelphia.

Elizalde, of Havertown, was killed in September 2022, when multiple shooters ambushed a group of teenagers who were leaving a football scrimmage.

Four other teens were injured.

Elizalde played football for Roxborough High, but he attended Walter B. Saul High School, which is nearby.

• Related: Tree Planted In Honor Of Killed Havertown Teen Nicolas Elizalde

Five people were initially arrested. But McClendon was charged with murder in August 2025, after new analysis of DNA evidence from the scene found a match, police said.

McClendon was arrested a month earlier after getting charged with the murder of Betrand-Hill, who was shot in April 2023. McClendon was the third person arrested in the case.

He was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree murder.

"We can only hope that the family and friends of Nicolas and Nafis will find some solace with this outcome," said District Attorney Larry Krasner. "And while convictions won’t bring back Nicolas and Nafis or heal the physical and psychological scars endured by those who were injured in these heinous acts, my office will continue to support the co-victims of these senseless tragedies."