tres sharon colina, Pensilvania, police officers were charged Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility while she exited a high school football game on August 27, 2021, los fiscales dijeron.
Officers Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney were each charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter, one count of involuntary manslaughter, así como también 10 counts of reckless endangerment, according to the criminal complaints.
Manslaughter charges were “appropriate” in this case rather than murder in the third degree because there was no evidence of malice, according to a press release from Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer’s office.
CNN has reached out to all three officers as well as their attorneys for comment. CNN has also reached out to the Sharon Hill Police Department.
The incident occurred when two teens, Angelo “A.J.” Ford and Hasein Strand, opened fire in a dispute outside a suburban Philadelphia high school football game, según la denuncia. In response to the gunshots, the three officers who were monitoring the exit of the football game at the time, discharged their weapons at a vehicle traveling on the street between the officers and the football stadium and spectators leaving the game.
The officers’ shots struck four people as they were leaving, including Bility, whose injuries were fatal, according to the complaints. Shots from the officers struck a car driven by two girls going to the football game and the vehicle had no involvement in the original altercation between Ford and Strand, according to the complaints.
Sharon Hill police officers Brian Devaney, Devon Smith and Sean Dolan
Investigators recovered a total of 25 9mm cartridge casings from the area where the officers discharged their weapons, with ballistic evidence matching them to the officers’ service weapons, según la denuncia.
Stollsteimer also announced Tuesday he directed his office to withdraw the murder charges against Ford and Strand, the two teenagers, for their role in the killing of Bility. Those charges had been brought earlier in the investigation.
“While I believe these defendants should be held accountable for starting the series of events that ultimately led to Fanta Bility’s death, developments during the grand jury investigation render it appropriate to withdraw these charges at this time,” Stollsteimer said in the release.
Strand pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm for his role in the August 27 eventos. Strand will serve a prison term of 32 a 64 months and will remain under court supervision until 2030, per the terms of his plea, according to the release from the district attorney’s office.
Ford still faces attempted murder, aggravated assault and gun possession charges, according to the district attorney’s office.
CNN has reached out to the public defender representing Ford and Strand for comment.
“From the moment the call came in on August 27, my team of investigators and prosecutors has worked tirelessly to achieve justice for Fanta and the other victims of that tragic night. Today’s charges are a big step forward in that process,” Stollsteimer said in the release.
“I am convinced the DA’s office and grand jury did exactly what they should have done,” Bility family attorney Bruce L. Castor said in a statement to CNN on Tuesday. “I am very pleased with how the DA’s office handled the case and the Bility family is likewise very impressed.”
According to the district attorney’s office, bail was set at $ 500,000, unsecured, for each defendant and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for January 27, 2022, in the Springfield District Court.
