Tag Archives: #Killadelphia

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Killadelphia: “Justice” in Philadelphia

We have previously noted that The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote major stories on the murder of Samuel Sean Collington, a Temple University student approaching graduation. Mr Collington was a white victim, murdered by Latif Williams, a black 17-year-old, in a botched robbery. On December 2, 2021,the Inquirer published 14 photographs from a vigil for Mr Collington, along with another story about him. This was a big story in the City of Brotherly Love, in part because Mr Collington was an intern with the City Commissioners’ Office and knew the ‘right people’, and in part because it was yet another example of violence and lawlessness around the Temple University campus. When my daughters were considering to where they would go to college, I absolutely vetoed Temple, because I knew the neighborhood.

Well, more than two years after the murder, young Mr Williams has finally been convicted:

Man convicted in 2021 murder of Temple University student Samuel Collington

Latif Williams, 19, of Olney, was found guilty of third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and illegal possession of a firearm in connection with the killing.

by Nick Valada | Tuesday, February 20, 2024 | 6:06 PM EST | Updated: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 | 1:52 PM EST

Latif Williams, photo by, Philadelphia Police Department, via KYT-TV, Philadelphia.

A Philadelphia man was convicted Tuesday in the 2021 murder of 21-year-old Temple University student Samuel Collington.Latif Williams, 19, of Olney, was found guilty after a one-day bench trial of third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and illegal possession of a firearm.

A “bench trial” is one in which the defendant is tried by a judge, without a jury; both the prosecution and defendant must agree to that type of trial for it to proceed.

A native of Prospect Park, Delaware County, Collington was a senior at Temple studying political science at the time of his murder. He was shot outside his apartment on the 2200 block of North Park Avenue near Dauphin Street on Nov. 28, 2021, in what police said appeared to be a robbery and carjacking.

Collington was expected to graduate in spring 2022 from Temple’s College of Liberal Arts. At the time of his death, he had recently received a high score on the LSAT, planned to attend law school in the fall, and worked as a democracy fellow in the Office of the Philadelphia City Commissioners.

“The District Attorney’s Office is grateful for the conviction of Latif Williams for this outrageous crime, which not only deeply impacted Mr. Collington’s family and loved ones but affected the entire Temple University community,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said. “I again extend my deepest condolences for the terrible loss of a promising young man.”

The cited article continues to tell readers some details about the case, and the fact that young Mr Williams was under police investigation in connection with several armed robberies in the area and an August 2021 carjacking of an elderly man. Mr Williams will be formally sentenced in May, and is scheduled to be tried for the carjacking on the same day.

Patrick Link, Williams’ attorney, said Tuesday that the third-degree murder conviction for his client was the “appropriate verdict,” as Williams was initially charged with first- and second-degree murder, which would have brought harsher sentences. A first-degree murder conviction calls for a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Yeah, uh huh, right. What is “third-dgree murder” in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania Title 18 §2502. Murder.

  • (a) Murder of the first degree.–A criminal homicide constitutes murder of the first degree when it is committed by an intentional killing.
  • (b) Murder of the second degree.–A criminal homicide constitutes murder of the second degree when it is committed while defendant was engaged as a principal or an accomplice in the perpetration of a felony.
  • (c) Murder of the third degree.–All other kinds of murder shall be murder of the third degree. Murder of the third degree is a felony of the first degree.

Those are fairly simple definitions. Given that Mr Williams shot and killed Mr Collington while attempting to rob him, his crime would fit the definition of second-degree murder. Though not stated in the definition above, first-degree murder normally requires proof of premeditation, which would seem to rule it out in this case.

So, what are the penalties for murder in the Keystone State?

Pennsylvania Title 18 §1102.1. Sentence of persons under the age of 18 for murder, murder of an unborn child and murder of a law enforcement officer.

  • (a) First degree murder.–A person who has been convicted after June 24, 2012, of a murder of the first degree, first degree murder of an unborn child or murder of a law enforcement officer of the first degree and who was under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced as follows:
    • (1) A person who at the time of the commission of the offense was 15 years of age or older shall be sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without parole, or a term of imprisonment, the minimum of which shall be at least 35 years to life.
    • (2) A person who at the time of the commission of the offense was under 15 years of age shall be sentenced to a term of life imprisonment without parole, or a term of imprisonment, the minimum of which shall be at least 25 years to life.
  • (b) Notice.–Reasonable notice to the defendant of the Commonwealth’s intention to seek a sentence of life imprisonment without parole under subsection (a) shall be provided after conviction and before sentencing.
  • (c) Second degree murder.–A person who has been convicted after June 24, 2012, of a murder of the second degree, second degree murder of an unborn child or murder of a law enforcement officer of the second degree and who was under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced as follows:
    • (1) A person who at the time of the commission of the offense was 15 years of age or older shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment the minimum of which shall be at least 30 years to life.
    • (2) A person who at the time of the commission of the offense was under 15 years of age shall be sentenced to a term of imprisonment the minimum of which shall be at least 20 years to life.

You will note, however, that there is no specific sentence listed for third-degree murder, which is simply listed as a first-degree felony. That’s indicated below:

Pennsylvania Title 18 §1103. Sentence of imprisonment for felony.

  • Except as provided in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9714 (relating to sentences for second and subsequent offenses), a person who has been convicted of a felony may be sentenced to imprisonment as follows:
    • (1) In the case of a felony of the first degree, for a term which shall be fixed by the court at not more than 20 years.

There is, however, no minimum sentence specified, though normally the sentence range is ten-to-twenty years. A second-degree felony in the Keystone State has a maximum sentence of ten years in the state penitentiary.

Lori D. Esq, a former prosecutor, tweeted:

DAO did waiver trial in front of Okeefe who only convicted of 3rd degree murder. But apparently Okeefe always gives 3rd degree discount yet Larry has policy that DAO always agrees to waiver unless a cop is a defendant. What a disgrace.

“Okeefe” is Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Scott O’Keefe.

So, let’s look at what made Mr Link so happy. Under Title 18 §1102.1(c)(1), a juvenile defendant of Mr Williams’ age at the time of the murder would be sentenced to a minimum of 30 years, up to a life sentence, with the possibility of parole. But with the third-degree murder downgrade, Mr Williams faces no more than 20 years, which would see him released, at the latest, at age 37 — assuming no consecutive sentences are applied, and that Mr Williams receives credit for time served — while Mr Collington will still be stone-cold graveyard dead.

We won’t know Mr Williams’ sentence until May, but at this point I am reminded of a couple of OpEds that the Inquirer published, both of which told readers that teenagers’ brains weren’t fully developed, and that we should treat them leniently, to give them chances to reform. We can’t know if Judge O’Keefe read them or will be influenced by them, but one thing we do know is that justice has not been done here.
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Killadelphia Yet another senseless shooting takes the life of an innocent person

We have previously reported on the shooting, allegedly by the-17-year-old Quadir Humphrey, which struck a 16-year-old victim in the head. We also noted:

(I)F the reports I’ve seen on Twitter are correct, the victim has a “non-survivable brain injury” and is “now brain dead,” so the charges will surely be upgraded to murder.

More information has now been made public:

The 16-year-old shot at SEPTA station will not survive, mom says

Quadir Humphrey, 18, and Zaire Wilson, 16, will likely be charged with murder.

by Ellie Rushing | Tuesday, January 16, 2024 | 2:26 PM EST

The 16-year-old who was critically wounded in a shooting on the subway platform last week will not survive his injuries, his mother said Tuesday.

Tyshaun Welles, a sophomore at Frankford High School, has been on life support since Thursday night, when he was shot in the head by a stray bullet after two teens opened fire at the City Hall SEPTA station, said his mother, Racquel Bango. Continue reading →

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Killadelphia: The City of Brotherly Love has been under one murder per day for the last three months

Well, it took a long time, but the City of Brotherly Love hit 400 homicides for the fourth year in a row. Still, it’s progress, because Philadelphia will be well under 500, a number hit the previous two years, and there’s good reason to suspect that the total topped 500 three years ago as well.

The news is even better than expected: as recently as October 1st, the mat worked out to a projected 439.60 homicides. Now, it works out to 412.43, using a daily average of 1.2994 homicides per day. But, using the figures only since October 1st, 70 homicides in 80 days, 0.875 killings per day, and 11 days left in 2023, that works out to 9.625 more murders in the city, for a total of 409 or 410 for the year. There were 12 murders in the last 11 days of 2022.

The most interesting part of that math is that there have been fewer than one homicide per day for almost the last three months!

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Killadelphia

According to the Philadelphia Police Department’s Crime Maps and Stats page, there have been 383 homicides in the City of Brotherly Love as of 11:59 PM EST on November 30, 2023.

With November 30th being the 334th day of the year, that works out to an average of 1.1467 homicides per day in Philly, which, multiplied by 365 yields a projected 418.5479 murders for the year. That’s a heck of an improvement, even if it’s still ridiculously high, but anything under 422 killings will give Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and most-of-the-year Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw a four-year average slightly under 500 per year.

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Killadelphia The numbers are down, but Philly will still see well over 400 murders in 2023

The ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties of Hallowe’en have left, and, according to the Philadelphia Police Department, there have been 358n homicides through the end of October in the City of Brotherly Love. Yes, that number is a great improvement over the same date during the past three years, but, if you open the website, you’ll see that, for other than the last three years, it is a higher to date total than any of the other years listed, going back through 2007. More, 358 is higher than the entire year totals for 2008 through 2019.

Oh, that “*Annual percentage change compared to same day in 2021” footnote? That’s wrong; it’s the annual percentage change compared to the same day in the previous year, 2022, not 2021, a sloppiness I reported back on April 27th, and something I reported to the Police Department vis Twitter back then; it still hasn’t been corrected.

So, how do the numbers work out? Hallowe’en was the 304th day of the year, which means Philly has been seeing 1.1776 homicides per day, which, multiplied by 365 days in the year, yields 429.84 total murders for 2023. That’s certainly a great improvement over the past three years, but, assuming 430 homicides for the year, 2023 will still be higher than any year since 1995, other, of course, than the last three. And, if the number winds up 430, it will mean that the triumvirate of Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw[1]Miss Outlaw resigned as of September 22nd to take a lower-level job with the Port Authority of New York, because she knew she was toast in Philadelphia. will have averaged slightly more than 500 homicides per year, 501.75 to be exact, during their four years together. For that number to drop below 500 would require the city to see only 422 killings this year, possible but improbable.

References

References
↑1 Miss Outlaw resigned as of September 22nd to take a lower-level job with the Port Authority of New York, because she knew she was toast in Philadelphia.
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How many crimes are connected to the killing of Josh Kruger?

Josh Kruger and his cat, Mason.

We have fairly extensively covered the murder of homosexual and homeless advocate Josh Kriger in Philadelphia:

Once the allegations that the 39-year-old Mr Kruger had been sexually involved with his 19-year-old alleged murderer, since the (alleged) killer, Robert Davis, was 15 — in Pennsylvania, the age of consent is 16, not 18 — the story changed fairly dramatically. All of the ‘tributes’ for Mr Kruger suddenly dried up. If any sexual activity took place while Mr Davis was 15, Mr Kruger would have been, under Pennsylvania Title 18 §3122(1)(b), guilty of a first-degree felony. Mr Kruger was a minor celebrity in Philly, and had a lot of friends, including Mayor Jim Kenney. Among those who followed him on Twitter were District Attorney Larry Krasner, the District Attorney’s Office, Inquirer editorial writer Daniel Pearson, and CNN’s Jake Tapper. Now that Mr Davis’ family are telling us that Mr Kruger was a sexual predator, essentially a chickenhawk, and everyone seemed to just keep their mouths tightly shut. Continue reading →

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Killadelphia To me, it's simple: no one who is guilty of murder should ever see the light of day again as a free man.

On Thursday, October 12th, Philadelphia Police Officers Richard Mendez, 50, and Raul Ortiz, 60, were when the officers attempted to stop a gang of goons from attempting to break in and steal a car in a parking garage at the Philadelphia International Airport. Officer Mendez was killed, and Officer Ortiz wounded. The officers returned fire, and one of ths suspects was wounded. Teenager Jesus Herman Madera Duran was wounded, and his accomplices threw him in the back of their Dodge Durango — which was reported stolen a weak earlier — and dumped him on the floor of a parking garage at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and then fled. Young Mr Duran, of Camden, New Jersey, was pronounced dead at CHOP. Continue reading →

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Being taught about white privilege, by The Philadelphia Inquirer

It has been pointed out countless times on The First Street Journal that The Philadelphia Inquirer only cares about individual homicides when the victim is an ‘innocent,’ a person already of some note, or a cute little white girl.

And so it has been with the killing of Josh Kruger. Continue reading →

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Killadelphia: The city’s white, liberal elite were appalled at Josh Kruger’s murder, but didn’t even notice the killings of four ‘nobodies.’ I am not surprised in the least.

We have noted, really too many times to note all of them, that The Philadelphia Inquirer is not really concerned about individual homicides in the City of Brotherly Love unless an ‘innocent,’ someone already of some note, or a cute little white girl is the victim. On Monday morning, it was reported that Josh Kruger, a freelance journalist of at least some note in Philly was murdered, which we noted here, and the left in Philly — Rue Landau, Inquirer reporter Ellie Rushing, Jordan Winkler, Mayor Jim Kenney, the Liberty City Dems, state Senator Nikil Saval, The New York Times, WPVI-TV, Inquirer editorial writer Daniel Pearson, CNN, Taj Magruder, Maggie Hart, and an untold number of other people are all mourning his death.

Yet what about the three people murdered early this morning, along with a fourth person critically wounded, in the Crascentville section of the city, and the ‘person of interest’ suspected in the killings? They are, as far as the media have told us thus far, not ‘somebodies,’ and there are few tweets about them, few messages I have seen, and, as far as I can tell, other than friends and family, nobody f(ornicating) cares. Mayor Kenney has said nothing about those four people, whom I assume to be black from this photo in the Inky. Mr Kruger was white.

And you know what? I am not surprised in the least!