City man sentenced to more than 7 years in prison for South Philly gunpoint carjackings (DOJ)

PHILADELPHIA - United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Nyeem Williamson, 23, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 85 months in prison and five years of supervised release by United States District Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro for a March 2024 armed carjacking.

The defendant and co-conspirator Khala Hardy, 24, also of Philadelphia, were charged by indictment in October 2024 with conspiracy to commit a carjacking, carjacking, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Williamson pleaded guilty this March. Hardy pleaded guilty in July 2025 and was sentenced in May to more than seven years in prison.

As detailed in court filings and statements, on the night of March 15, 2024, Williamson and Hardy targeted a female driver ("Victim 1") who was dropping off a friend in South Philadelphia. Hardy approached on the driver's side of the vehicle, opened the driver door, pointed a gun at Victim 1, and directed her to "get out and give me your keys."

Victim 1 exited her Toyota RAV4 and the two carjackers fled in the vehicle, with Hardy driving. Shortly after the carjacking, Hardy instructed Williamson on how to disable the Toyota's GPS system and cameras to avoid detection by law enforcement, as documented in their group chat messages.

Three days after the carjacking, on March 18, 2024, Philadelphia Police Department ("PPD") officers on patrol in West Philadelphia observed the carjacked Toyota RAV4 driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Police activated their lights and sirens to initiate a traffic stop, but the vehicle sped off before coming to a stop on a pedestrian sidewalk in the area of 400 North Hobart Street. PPD officers identified the defendant as the driver of the stolen vehicle and arrested him that night. PPD detectives processed the vehicle and recovered a loaded .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol and the defendant's cell phone.

This case was investigated by the PPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Samantha A. Arena.