are you kidding me? thats it?

and one of these kids had their bail lowered 1,000 dollars because he went to church that day after killing the guy??

wtf???

Teens facing murder charges for subway attack

By Joseph A. Gambardello
Inquirer Staff Writer
All five North Philadelphia teens arrested in the death of a man who suffered a fatal asthma attack when he was jumped in a Center City subway station in March admit they were there, but they agree on little else. One thing that is certain is that Arthur Alston, 16, even by his own admission, delivered the first blow that triggered the frenzied attack that left Sean Patrick Conroy desperately gasping for air and broke four of his ribs.
"I didn't want to kill the guy," Alston said in a statement to detectives read in court yesterday. "I wish it never happened."
Unanswered are why the teens attacked - one explanation was that it was some sort of challenge - and questions about a sixth assailant who has not been charged.
After a preliminary hearing yesterday, Municipal Court Judge James DeLeon ordered the five to stand trial on charges of third-degree murder and conspiracy.
He also set bail at $35,000 for four of the defendants and $34,000 for the fifth, with the stipulation that they be held under house arrest if they are released.
DeLeon said he gave Ameer Best, 17, the lower bail "for going to church that day and asking for forgiveness," a point the teen made in his statement to homicide detectives.
In their statements, three of the defendants - Best; Kinta Stanton, 16; and Nashir Fisher, 16 - claimed they did not hit Conroy when they surrounded him on March 26 at the 13th and Market Street station.
However, Best said he did swing at the victim so his friends would not think he was "a punk," and Stanton said he was about to hit Conroy when a police officer suddenly arrived.
The five also spoke of a sixth participant, identified only as Tim, a friend of defendant Rasheem Bell, 16, who joined them in Center City as they played hooky from Simon Gratz High School.
According to their statements, the group had been hanging out in the Gallery and were heading to catch a train when they came upon Conroy, a Starbucks manager.
There were different explanations for the attack.
Alston said he struck after someone in the group said, "Hey, that guy gave me a dirty look."
Best, however, said Tim planted the seed when he told the group, "I didn't come downtown for nothing."
Bell said Tim and Alston had been asking, "Are y'all scared to hit somebody?"
Fisher said the group simply "started to go at him" when Alston punched Conroy.
The accounts also differed on whether Tim actually touched Conroy - with Bell saying he didn't and and Alston saying he saw Tim kick the victim.
"We didn't go downtown to catch a body," Bell said, using a street term associated with murder.
Transit Police Officer Omari Bervine testified he arrived on a police golf cart during the beating and saw Conroy surrounded by four assailants.
Bervine, who chased down and arrested Stanton, identified defendant Bell in court as one of those who fled.
Bennett G. Preston, assistant medical examiner, said an autopsy showed that Conroy suffered a severe, stress-induced asthma attack that cut off oxygen to the brain, killing him.
He said that Conroy had been punched at least four times and that a powerful kick to his chest broke his ribs.
During the hearing, relatives of the defendants filled one side of the courtroom and applauded when DeLeon asked, "What happened to Tim?"
Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coelho offered no answer, telling the judge that was "a matter for another time."
Homicide detectives said yesterday the investigation was continuing.
Outside court, Conroy's parents said it was hard for them and his fiancee, Stephanie Johar, to sit through the proceedings.
Particularly painful, Steve Conroy said, was hearing details of his son's last minutes from Bervine and Transit Police Sgt. Christopher Hannigan, who heard the victim scream and saw the attack from a platform across the Market-Frankford Line tracks before rushing to the victim's aid.
"I don't know. There is no justice," Steve Conroy said. "Sean's gone. We want him back. That's not going to happen. We're going to go through this process and see where we end up."
He said he did not object to bail being set in the case.
"I don't know if sending these kids to jail is the answer or are we just sending them to finishing school . . . so they can do it better next time, get away next time."
"I hope this changes their life for the better," he said. "Our son's gone. That's all I know right now."

Isn't what they did basically accidental homicide? The fact that the victim died was an unfortunate consequence of assault/battery, which would make the death accidental. The premeditation of assault/battery would point to a harsher penalty and higher bail requirements - perhaps the judge set the bail at the higher levels possible for the class of crime?

Not to justify their actions or downplay the seriousness of the crime. I'm all in favor of putting kids like this into labor camps to replace illegal migrant workers.

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No matter where you go, there you are. (b.banzai)

Well he did get a powerful kick to the chest that broker 4 ribs. Nothing accidental about that.

It's sad that the only thing that even drew these scumbags to Center City was the Gallery. Can they please destroy this building and re-build it in West Philly?

I know a kid who got locked up for really low level drug dealing. He probably made $400 a week tops.

$80k bail. He sat in jail for a year b/c his family couldn't get the 10% up. After 3 hearings (over that year) he was finally let out on reduced bail. It was his 1st offense too.

He should have gone to church and "asked for forgiveness" like the fine gentleman in this article.

And what makes you think West Philly wants it? I'm sure Penn would adore a new Gallery...

When you commit a crime you take ownership of all that befalls the victim. If you mug a person with a weak heart and they have a heart attack you've committed murder. If you rob a bank and someone there goes into labor and the baby dies because she could not be taken to the hospital in time -- that's murder too.

All that is required is that you intended to do do the thing that you did; hit, rob, murder. Missing the victim and hitting someone else isn't an excuse, wanting to rob but ending up killing isn't one either.

Yeah that's it...PATHETIC!
A friend of mine was shot and killed 2 April's ago in Fairmount by 13 year olds who got posession of a hand gun...guess what? THEY GOT LET GO! No charges...nothing!!!!

WONDErFUL JUSTICE SYSTEM WE HAVE HERE!

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Just awful.
No charges - you mean they were never charged in the first place because they couldn't
be linked to the shooters? Or, they were charged but the jury let them off?

These stories always make me think of that Michael Douglas movie in which the judges
and lawyers hire an assassin to take care of business when they feel the court fails
them. (The Star Chamber).

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Something is seriously wrong with this. How can our Mayor and Police Commissioner sit by without applying some political pressure on these judges?
Here was a hard working law abiding citizen killed because a gang of thugs was taunted into hurting someone.
What kind of message does this send to the next person who wants to hurt, maim or kill someone?
Will the fact that the murder victim went to church increase the amount of bail set?
Five killers refuse to name the sixth member of their gang and they walk.
At least put them in Jail for obstruction of Justice, without bail,until they identify this 'Tim'.
Then either the killers, their friends or someone in their immediate family know who this 'Tim' is and if they were made to sit in Jail until he was arrested one of them would come forward.
Yo! Mayor! now this is a quality of life issue you should be pursuing instead of making a big thing out of arresting four alleged prostitutes.