Keith Gibson, Serial Killer: Delaware and Philadelphia Convictions

Keith Gibson, the serial killer known as “The Beast,” is a Delaware man who murdered six people across Philadelphia and Delaware during a six-month spree in 2021. He is now serving 11 consecutive life sentences — seven imposed by a Delaware court in 2023 and four more imposed by a Philadelphia court in June 2026 — along with hundreds of additional years for related robberies, assaults, and weapons offenses.¹²

Who He Killed in 2021

Gibson’s killings started in late January 2021 and ended in early June. The same revolver was used in multiple murders, and most of the victims were working at the time they were shot.³

January 28, 2021 — Roy Caban and Erik Flores: Philadelphia officers responding to a robbery call at Al Madinah Traders on the 3600 block of Germantown Avenue found both shop owners dead in the rear of the store. Caban had been shot in the chest and Flores in the head.¹³
February 8, 2021 — Christine Gibson: Gibson’s mother was found shot in the head inside an office at the United Peers Community Center on the 4200 block of Ridge Street, where she worked. Prosecutors said Gibson killed her for life insurance money. She had told people close to her that she feared her son and wanted distance from him after his recent release from prison.¹⁴
May 15, 2021 — Leslie Ruiz-Basilio: Gibson shot and killed Ruiz-Basilio, 28, during a robbery at a Metro PCS store on Kirkwood Highway in Elsmere, Delaware, and stole her vehicle.⁴
June 5, 2021 — Ronald Wright: Gibson shot and killed Wright, 42, during a street robbery in Wilmington, Delaware.⁵
June 5, 2021 — Christine Lugo: Gibson fatally shot Lugo, a Dunkin’ manager, during an early morning robbery at the store on the 500 block of West Lehigh Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia. Surveillance footage showed him demanding she take him to the safe; after she handed over about $300, he shot her in the head and fled.¹

Gibson also attacked people who survived. On June 6, 2021, he shot a Wilmington store clerk named Belal Almansoori, who later testified against him.⁶

How He Was Caught

Gibson’s spree ended on the morning of June 8, 2021, with a holdup at a Rite Aid on West 4th Street in Wilmington. He pistol-whipped the cashier and demanded cash. The cashier slipped a GPS tracker into the bag before handing it over, and police used the signal to find Gibson about a block away. He was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and carrying a loaded firearm and a knife when officers took him into custody.⁷⁸ Ballistics testing on the revolver recovered at the scene later tied it to multiple killings in both states.³

The Probation Release That Preceded the Spree

Gibson had an extensive violent record before 2021. The Delaware Department of Corrections documented 29 felony arrests, nine felony convictions, 15 misdemeanor convictions, 64 total criminal charges, and 14 probation violations over his lifetime, including convictions for assault and terroristic threatening.⁹

He had served roughly 13 years of a 20-year sentence for manslaughter and a related firearm charge in the fatal shooting of Stanley “Savon” Jones in Wilmington, a plea deal reduced from first-degree murder. Released to community corrections in June 2020, he violated probation, served another six months, and was released again that December.⁹¹⁰

In February 2021, Gibson was arrested in Philadelphia for violating probation by leaving Delaware. He was already a suspect in his mother’s murder. The Delaware DOC initially recommended that a judge impose the remaining 6.5 years of his manslaughter sentence, warning that he “posed a threat to himself and the community.” Delaware Judge Vivian Medinilla held a hearing on April 13, 2021, but deferred sentencing. By the time the case returned to court on April 27, the DOC’s recommendation had been revised to 30 days, Gibson’s public defender asked for time served citing housing and employment prospects, and no one from probation and parole objected. Medinilla sentenced Gibson to 31 days and released him.¹¹ He killed four more people over the next six weeks.

Delaware DOC Commissioner Claire DeMatteis called the handling of the case part of a “troubling pattern” in which judges and defense attorneys push back against probation officers who seek significant prison time for violent offenders, and said Medinilla could have imposed the 6.5 years on April 13 but delayed “for no reason, really.”¹¹ Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said there “arguably has been a systemic failure when someone with a record this terrible, who has completed a lengthy sentence for homicide, is under very serious consideration for killing his mother — and he remained on the street.”¹⁰

Delaware Conviction and Sentence

Gibson was tried first in Delaware. In November 2023, a jury convicted him on 22 charges tied to the murders of Leslie Ruiz-Basilio and Ronald Wright, including four counts of murder, attempted murder, multiple robberies, conspiracy, theft of a motor vehicle, wearing body armor during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Declared a habitual offender, he was sentenced in New Castle County Superior Court to seven consecutive life terms plus 296 years.²

Philadelphia Conviction and Sentence

Gibson’s Philadelphia trial began in early June 2026. On June 9, 2026, a jury unanimously convicted him on all four counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Roy Caban, Erik Flores, Christine Gibson, and Christine Lugo, along with related robbery and weapons offenses.⁴¹² Judge Giovanni Campbell sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences plus 76 years, bringing his combined total to 11 life terms.¹ Krasner said Gibson “will spend the rest of his life thinking about the heinous crimes he committed and the communities he harmed.”

1
Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. DA Krasner Announces Multiple 1st Degree Murder Convictions and Sentencing of Keith Gibson
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NBC Philadelphia. Suspected Philly Serial Killer Sentenced to 7 Life Terms, 296 Years in Prison
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Oxygen. Keith Gibson to Be Charged With Murdering Eric Flores, Roy Caban
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NBC Philadelphia. Keith Gibson Murder Trial Philadelphia
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6ABC. Keith Gibson The Beast Delaware Serial Killer Trial
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NBC Philadelphia. Suspected Philly Serial Killer Faces Life in Prison After Being Convicted of 2 Murders in Delaware
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CBS News Philadelphia. Serial Killer Keith Gibson Caught After Rite Aid Employee Puts GPS Tracker in Bag of Cash
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New York Post. Accused Serial Killer Busted After Cashier Slips GPS in Bag
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WHYY. Suspected Serial Killer Indicted on 41 Felony Charges After Staggering Crime Spree in Philly, Delaware
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NBC Philadelphia. How Accused Killer Was Allowed on the Street Before Philly, Delaware Murders
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WHYY. How a Delaware Man Now Suspected in Four Murders Avoided Prison After Violating Probation
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Philadelphia Tribune. DA Announces Convictions, Life Sentence in Deadly 2021 Spree in Philadelphia