DV Journal

Delaware County and Darby Township officials were joined by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon at a press conference Thursday to denounce racist remarks said by firefighters from the Briarcliffe Fire Company.

After learning about the disparaging comments from members of the Goodwill Fire Company Wednesday afternoon, the township commissioners voted to suspend Briarcliffe for 30 days, pending an investigation.

Delaware County DA Jack Stollsteimer promised at the press conference that a criminal investigation would be done.

“Whether or not a crime occurred, hate speech is morally wrong,” said Stollsteimer. “And it doesn’t reflect the people who live here in Darby Township.  And it really doesn’t reflect the people who live here in Delaware County. And it really is a small number of people who hate so much they would spew this hatred out there.”

Tim Boyce, director of Delaware County Emergency Services, assured residents that other fire companies will fill in and there will be no gaps in services while Briarcliffe is suspended.

Perhaps most egregious among the racist comments were disparaging slurs about the name of Fanta Bility, the 8-year-old Sharon Hill girl who was caught in the crossfire as police discharged their weapons toward a crowd dispersing from an Academy Park football game on Aug. 27, 2001. Those officers were fired and now face manslaughter charges.

Bruce L. Castor Jr., a lawyer for the Bility family, released a statement from the family Thursday evening, saying the family is “appalled by the audio recordings.”

“Fanta was a bright, bubbly, innocent child who looked forward to a life filled with helping others who were hurting or injured — before being killed by careless actions of three Sharon Hill Police officers. A kind and loving girl, Fanta brightened the lives of everyone she met. To speak of her with such disrespect shines the light of shame on those people at the firehouse making the remarks and reflects negatively on those good and true first responders who pledge their lives to the service of all members of the community.

“Americans from every walk of life and of all ideological persuasions should join her family in mourning Fanta’s death and in echoing their calls for justice. By brazenly mocking Fanta and her death, some associated with Briarcliffe Fire Department did a disservice to the community they are sworn to protect, thereby reopening wounds from that fateful night when Fanta lay mortally wounded, though conscious, knowing her life drained away. To trivialize what this young girl endured that night gives new meaning to the descriptive ‘despicable,'” Castor said.

The family and Castor called for disciplinary action against those who made the remarks.

Delaware County Councilman Richard Womack, who lives in Darby, said the incident made it clear that racism has not disappeared, he said.

“Racism raised its ugly head,” said Womack. “We’re going to do whatever we can do to chop it off.”

Scanlon praised the state’s firefighters who “are renowned for their civic commitment” and the “endless hours of training.”

“That’s what makes this all the more horrifying,” said Scanlon. “It’s just a betrayal of the public trust. How can our neighbors trust these first responders will actually come to their aid in an emergency?”

And state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) called the racist remarks “beyond troubling,” saying that he was offended and as a Black person, he was affected. He agreed with Womack that racism is still present these days.

“How mean-spirited it was to comment on the death of an 8-year-old child,” he said. “That some individuals chose to mock that is…beyond the pale.”

He praised and thanked the members of the Goodwill Fire Company for blowing the whistle on the racist words of their fellow firefighters. And, he said, other first responders “should not be condemned” because of the words of a few.

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Two days after a Delaware County grand jury indicted three Sharon Hill police officers on manslaughter and other charges in the shooting death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility, Sharon Hill Borough Council voted 6-1 to fire them.

Fanta was among four people injured when the officers began firing toward a car that came around the corner after a group of young men began shooting at each other in the 900 block of Coates Street.  However, at the same time spectators from an Academy Park High School football game, including Fanta, were leaving the stadium and were caught in a hail of bullets. A fifth victim was struck by a bullet fired by one of the young men, the grand jury report said.

Officers Devon Smith, 33, Sean Dolan, 25, and Brian Devaney, 41, are free on $500,000 unsecured bail.

“This is a sad day for our officers who face criminal charges for trying to do their jobs and keeping the community safe,” Joseph Fitzgerald, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27 said in a statement. “The FOP continues to support those fine officers and will provide a vigorous defense against these allegations. Our members have served the Sharon Hill community with respect and integrity and we ask the public for continued patience as this case moves through the criminal justice system.”

Some Delaware Valley residents have also raised questions about how the officers are being treated.

“It’s a shame these fine officers are being used as scapegoats,” Haverford resident Richard Gallo said on Facebook. “Would never have happened if it was a Republican county and DA”—a jab at Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, a Democrat.

Soon after the incident, various groups, including Black Lives Matter and the NAACP, began demanding charges be filed against the three officers.

But retired Upper Darby Police Chief Mike Chitwood says he believes they were not treated fairly. He blames Stollsteimer.

“When I saw the DA, who I respect, when I saw he punted the case to the grand jury, I said, ‘These guys are going to be indicted.’ Because a grand jury can indict a hamburger.”

“I always said, ‘Taking a case before a grand jury takes the heat off you.’ So don’t have to make a decision and the police don’t get mad at you if you take a case before a grand jury.”

“The incident itself was a tragedy,” Chitwood added. “I accept that. It was a total out-and-out tragedy…In my opinion, the police, as tragic as it was, never went into work and said, ‘I think I’ll kill an 8-year-old girl.’ It never happened. But the way they’re being treated, with the indictment, the grand jury, now they’re being fired. Where’s the presumption of innocence? There is none. And that’s unfair. You wonder why police in America today don’t do anything? Because they don’t get the backing.”

Borough Council should have waited to act until after the trial, he said. Council President Tanya Allen did not respond to a request for comment.

“They didn’t give them that opportunity,” said Chitwood. “And, it’s all about what’s politically right. It doesn’t take away from the tragedy. It was a tragic event that happened because of a lot of different variables that played themselves out.”

“This is the society we live in today,” Chitwood. “The homicide rates are going sky high. The solvability rates are going sky low. That’s the reason why. You’re not going to do anything if you get no support. These officers, right, wrong, indifferent got no support.”

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A Delaware County grand jury indicted has three Sharon Hill police officers on numerous charges, including voluntary manslaughter, for shooting into a crowd leaving a football game, killing 8-year-old Fanta Bility.

The incident happened on August 27, 2021, after an Academy Park High School football game when a group of young men got into an argument. Two of them exchanged gunfire in the 900 block of Coates Street, one block west of the football stadium entrance as spectators were leaving.

Three officers– Devon Smith, 33, Sean Dolan, 25, and Brian Devaney, 41, — were nearby. As gunshots rang out, a car turned directly in front of the officers. The lawmen fired 25 rounds from their Glock 17 service revolvers, according to court records. A woman in the car was struck by broken glass after shots hit the windshield.

Brian Devaney

The grand jury investigation found that four of the five gunshot victims, including young Fanta, were hit by shots from the officers’ guns, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said.

In addition to killing Fanta, the police also injured her older sister, Mamasu Bility, 12, who suffered a graze wound to her neck, according to court records. Alona Ellison-Acosta was shot in the foot and Anya Kellan suffered a graze wound to her ankle.

“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.

The officers were each charged with 12 criminal counts, including voluntary and reckless manslaughter and reckless endangerment, for their actions that night.

Meanwhile, Angelo “AJ” Ford, 16, of Sharon Hill, and Hasein Strand, 18, of Collingdale, whose altercation sparked the shooting, also face charges. Ford was charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault for allegedly trying to kill Strand, as well as a gun charge. According to the indictment, their fight was due to ongoing Collingdale versus Darby territorial conflicts involving the Money Making Legends (MML) gang.

Earlier Tuesday, Strand pled guilty to aggravated assault for his wounding of a child bystander during the initial August 27 gunfight and illegal possession of a firearm. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Strand will be incarcerated for 32-64 months at a state prison and will remain under court supervision until 2030, officials said.

Devon Smith

“Relatedly, I am also announcing today that I have directed my office to withdraw murder charges against defendants A.J. Ford and Hasein Strand for their role in the killing of Fanta Bility. 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.

Lawyers for the victims praised the DA.

“The Bility family thanks District Attorney Stollsteimer and his staff of investigators and prosecutors for following the evidence and the law in bringing forth these charges today,” said Bruce L. Castor, Jr., the attorney representing the Bility family. “The family appreciates that the District Attorney has kept them informed at every stage of this investigation. From the beginning, he assured them that he would seek justice for Fanta, and today’s charges indicate that he’s done exactly that. They made the right call,” Castor said.

“The family is satisfied with this [indictment],” Castor told the Delaware Valley Journal. “This was as well as it could have gone. Obviously, the police were not intending to kill (her). So the best we were going to do is a manslaughter charge and the DA’s office did exactly that. And the family is 100 percent behind what the DA has done.”

However, convicting the officers of manslaughter may be difficult, Castor said.

“That takes a lot of guts for the elected DA to charge [police officers] with voluntary manslaughter,” said Castor. “I think the DA’s office could have easily elected not to charge any degree of homicide based on the ballistics evidence and it would have been totally justified. The more politically risky move was to charge a case where it’s a close call. Politicians are not always known to be the bravest, and they usually take the safest courses. I think he ought to be praised for that.”

While nothing will bring back the little girl, “a criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits will at least deter future misconduct,” said Castor, who is suing the city and officers in federal court on behalf of the Bility family. That civil case is being delayed until the criminal case is resolved, he said.

The suit, for an unspecified amount, alleges civil rights violations, Castor said. But he expects the resulting verdict or settlement to be “substantial.”

Sean Dolan

While Mamasu Fanta has recovered physically, “she’s very traumatized from having been shot and from being there when her sister was shot… I’ve learned from experience that children are slow to show symptoms of tremendous trauma in their lives. They slowly process it and begin to show signs of PTSD that we know in adults,” said Castor.”I fully realize that the tragic death of Fanta and the trauma inflicted on her family, the other victims, and community members involved, have been emotionally draining to all, including the investigators and prosecutors assigned. No one touched by this incident will ever be the same. I hope that today’s announcement will help the community begin to heal through the knowledge that all the individuals who fired guns that night are being held accountable for their actions under our laws,” said Stollsteimer.

Community members had been protesting about the slow pace of the grand jury investigation and demanding that charges be brought against the officers. And, conversely, some protesters also asked that murder charges against Ford and Strand be dismissed.”It’s of great significance that theDA’ss office withdrew the murder charges against the other two people who started the ball rolling,” said Castor, who had previously served as Montco district attorney.”That was the right thing to do.”

Sharon Hill officials did not respond to requests for comment. Bail was set at $500,000, unsecured, for each of the three officers, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 27.  Lawyers for the officers did not respond bu deadline when asked to comment.

“I think this is a good day for justice in southeast Pennsylvania,” Castor said.

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