NORRISTOWN — Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Upper Merion Police Chief Thomas Nolan announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Rafiq Thompson, 38, of North 47th Street in Philadelphia. Thompson is wanted for the murder of 31-year-old Tamara Cornelius at a King of Prussia gas station.
The murder of Cornelius happened on Friday, April 8. At 10:22 p.m., Upper Merion Township Police were dispatched to the Exxon Station at 113 N. Gulph Road for a report of shots fired. They arrived to find Tamara Cornelius lying in the gas station parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds. She was transported to Paoli Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 11:09 p.m.
A joint homicide investigation by Upper Merion Township Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau found that the defendant and victim had a prior relationship and that the two had talked briefly at 9:11 p.m. before she went in to have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.
The investigation revealed the victim left the restaurant at 10:15 p.m., walked to the mall parking garage, then drove to the Exxon station. The defendant followed her. While Cornelius was pumping gas, Thompson stepped out of his car, spoke to the victim and then shot her multiple times, continuing as she attempted to run away.
An autopsy was performed Monday by Forensic Pathologist Erica Williams of the Chester County Coroner’s Office, which found that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide. The autopsy also found that Cornelius was pregnant at the time of her death.
“This was a chilling murder of a young woman and her unborn child. We will be filing an additional homicide charge against the defendant — Murder of an Unborn Child,” said DA Steele.
Thompson is Black, is 5-feet, 7-inches tall, and weighs approximately 167 pounds. If Thompson is spotted, call 911 immediately. Thompson is to be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about Thompson’s whereabouts is asked to call the Montgomery County Detectives at 610-226-5553 or Upper Merion Police at 610-265-3232. Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the STOPit! app. The STOPit! app can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids, then use code MONTCOPA to get the Montgomery County version of the app.
