A woman was struck and killed by a car in the early-morning hours of Sept. 4 in a melee outside of an after-hours North Philadelphia club that frequently hosts LGBT and ballroom events.
Alisha Moore, 27, was killed when a car driven by two women hit her outside Club Motivation, Eighth and Dauphin streets, early Saturday. Five other patrons also sustained injuries at the club, which at the time was staging its weekly “Breakfast Club,” an event popular with the LGBT ballroom and house community.
Marvin Mosley, who was working security at the club that night, told WCAU-10 that his mother, club owner Kadella Davis, was one of the victims and was hospitalized for facial and neck injuries.
Davis, also known as Mother Breakfast, has run underground LGBT parties in venues around the city for nearly 30 years.
Police said the incident arose after Mosley prevented three women, who reportedly are lesbian, from entering the club at about 4 a.m. because they were carrying open containers of alcohol. After being turned away, the women allegedly began smashing windows of nearby parked cars.
Two of the women got into a gray Chevrolet Monte Carlo at about 4:30 a.m. and drove toward the club, where a crowd was gathered outside. The women circled the block up to four times, striking more patrons each time before driving off, police said.
One suspect was detained at the scene and the other was apprehended a short distance away after she attempted to flee in a cab.
Club Motivation hosts “Mini Ball Madness” every Friday night and “Lesbian Night Out” on Saturdays.
As of Wednesday, charges had not been filed against the two women.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Ray Evers said an “active investigation” is ongoing and police know the identity of the two suspects, although their names have not yet been made public.
“We’re dealing with the District Attorney’s Office and we have a whole lot of evidence to get through, dealing with the car itself and the witnesses and toxicology reports,” Evers said. “At this point, we’re not sure when arrests will be made until the evidence is all sifted through and the DA’s Office makes the decision.”
Mother Breakfast was interviewed by Philadelphia Weekly earlier this year on black LGBT nightlife and said the club has been in existence since the 1980s, although it has moved to several locations because of frequent raids by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections.
Robert Burns, executive director of The COLOURS Organization Inc., said his agency has been in contact with several other LGBT of color groups whom he said are planning activities “that will support dialogue around the incident.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].