Beanie Sigel's stepfather was found dead yesterday morning after being shot and set on fire in Philadelphia's quiet Mount Airy neighborhood.

Officials said family members identified the man as Samuel Derry, 46, of South Philly's 2200 block on Mifflin Street. Police Inspector William Colarulo wouldn't confirm the report. Police said they discovered a body that had been set on fire around 4 a.m. shortly after being called to the 8100 block of Forrest Avenue in Iladelph's Cedarbrook section. Derry was reportedly shot twice in the stomach and his body was set on fire.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, residents were shocked by the horrific crime scene. Neighbors said they didn't hear screams or gunshots. The residents described the neighborhood as usually quiet.

"I heard something go whoosh and I saw the fire," Denise Calhoun, 47, who lives nearby told The Inquirer. "I had seen two men pull something out of their van and I thought it was trash. Then I saw the body on fire. He must have been dead already because he didn't react."

Colarulo said homicide detectives were looking into a report that people in a van or SUV were seen in the area where the body was found. The body was flamed in the alley between Forrest and Williams Avenue, an area of brick and stone row houses close to Philly's Franklin Spencer Edmunds Public School.

Neighbors think the body may have been dumped on the south side of the alley because the side has overgrown brush and isn't lighted. Word is residents had complained to police about abandoned cars in the lot and teenagers hanging around the area as of late.

It is uncertain whether Derry's death is connected to Sigel or his criminal case. The incident comes about a week after Beans' acquittal of attempted murder for allegedly shooting Terrence Speller outside West Philadelphia strip club, The Pony Tail back in 2003. It was Beans' second trial. Back in April 2004, a judge called a mistrial on the attempted murder charges. After five days of deliberation, a jury of seven women and five men couldn't reach a verdict in the case, forcing the judge to call a mistrial.

"The family is very saddened by the loss," Sigel's attorney Fortunato N. Perri Jr., told The Inquirer. Derry wed Sigel's mother, Michelle Brown-Derry, back in June 2004.

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