![]() “The weight of this tragedy falls on the shoulders of the three officers who discharged their weapons that day. Stollsteimer, who was elected on a reform agenda, has faced mounting criticism by members of his own party since charging the teens in November.Īt least two Democratic committees in Delaware County urged Stollsteimer to recuse himself from the case and turn it over to the state attorney general’s office, while five members of Philadelphia City Council released a statement Wednesday condemning what they called a “shocking miscarriage of justice.” A message was left for Strand’s attorney, Mark Much. ![]() Ford’s attorney, Mary Elizabeth Welch, declined to comment. Strand waived a preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday, according to the DA’s office. ![]() “I believe that the district attorney’s office is going to surprise a lot of people and makes decisions that are going to change the view that people have of the case.”įord’s preliminary hearing, scheduled for Thursday, was postponed. “It’s been my advice to the family to take a wait-and-see attitude for the short term,” said Castor, a former district attorney in neighboring Montgomery County. “I think that people in the community will feel dramatically different about how the case is being handled by this time next week,” Castor, who has also represented people who testified in front of the grand jury, said Thursday. The officers’ names “will not be released by this office unless they are charged with a crime,” said Margie McAboy, Stollsteimer’s spokesperson.Īttorney Bruce Castor, who has filed lawsuits on behalf of Fanta’s family and bystanders who were injured, said he had advised the family to withhold judgment of the DA’s performance, predicting major developments within days. Stollsteimer’s office declined to comment on its handling of the case. The grand jury is still doing its work.Īctivists, civil rights lawyers and others excoriated Stollsteimer on Thursday over what they called his disparate treatment of the two Black teenagers - who face charges that could put them away for life - and officers who fired their guns in an area crowded with people who were leaving the stadium at the end of the game. Delaware County District Attorney Democrat Jack Stollsteimer, a first-term Democrat, has also convened a grand jury to investigate the police officers’ use of deadly force. Prosecutors asserted that Ford and the other teen, 19-year-old Hasein Strand, should be held criminally liable for Fanta’s death, charging them with first-degree murder and other offenses. The little girl, Fanta Bility, was fatally wounded by an errant police bullet. ![]() ![]() (Media) - A hearing for a teenager charged with murder in the death of an 8-year-old girl hit by police gunfire was postponed Thursday in Delaware County as elected officials and activists stepped up their criticism of a prosecutor’s handling of the case so far.Īuthorities say Angelo Ford, 16, got into an argument and exchanged gunfire with another teen outside a high school football game in Sharon Hill last August when police, returning fire, hit several bystanders in the crowd. Authorities say officers were responding to gunfire between two teens when Bility was fatally struck by a police bullet in 2021. Protesters demonstrate calling for police accountability in the death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility who was shot outside a football game, at the Delaware County Courthouse in Media, Pa., Thursday, Jan. PNC C-Speak: The Language of Executives.Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be. The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over. ![]()
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