Mr. Ballin

Shortly after 8 p.m.

on October 9th, 1996, 31-year-old Anthony Irvin walked down a dark sidewalk in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, towards a local grocery store.

It was not that cold outside, but, you know, it was kind of windy, and it was dark, and, you know, Anthony, he only had a light jacket on, and so he wasn't feeling that comfortable, and so he pulled his jacket tight around him as he walked, and as he was walking, you know, all he wanted to do was just go home where it was warm.

but he couldn't.

He really needed money first.

Once he had money, then he could go home.

So Anthony had a pretty tough life, and for the most part, he really was just a career criminal.

He had not had a regular job in a very long time, and instead, when he needed money, like tonight, he would steal from local businesses, or he would mug people.

In the past nine years, he'd been arrested eight times for things like robbery and assault.

And so for the most part, he was just a huge nuisance to the people in this neighborhood.

Even if they felt bad for him, he was just a problem.

But, you know, despite how often he committed crimes, his crimes were always relatively petty.

And so he really didn't serve much time at all in prison.

He always ended up back out on the street and he always ended up continuing to, you know, be a problem.

But tonight though, as Anthony walked down the road, he was not thinking about how his behavior impacted his neighbors.

He was thinking about finding some place or someone to rob.

And tonight in particular, he thought...

I'm going to look for a person.

I need a target.

And so he's walking down the road and he actually began to get kind of worried because it seemed like it was quieter than usual out on the street.