Stepfather of teen accused of killing Penn State student is charged with hindering apprehension
The two teens wanted in the shooting death of 22-year-old Billy Schmidt remained on the run Wednesday, authorities said.
Authorities have arrested the stepfather of one of the two teenagers wanted in the shooting death of Penn State student William “Billy” Schmidt in South Philadelphia last month, though prosecutors said he is not accused of taking part in the slaying.
Donte Abdulmalik, 35, was charged with hindering apprehension, obstruction of justice, tampering with evidence, and related crimes, District Attorney Larry Krasner said Wednesday.
Abdulmalik’s arrest comes as authorities continue to search for Azzubair Outen-Fleming and Kaiseem Smith, both 16, who they say robbed, shot, and killed Schmidt, 22, just steps from his family’s South Philadelphia home on June 6.
Outen-Fleming, Abdulmalik’s stepson, and Smith remained at large Wednesday, Krasner said as he urged anyone with information about their whereabouts to come forward.
Prosecutors said Abulmalik helped his stepson leave the city.
The teens will face charges of murder, robbery, criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of a firearm, and related offenses, Krasner said.
He suggested that the investigation could involve others, describing the charges against the two teenagers and Abdulmalik as “a smaller part of a bigger picture.”
“I am not telling you that these are the only people involved,” Krasner said during a news conference Wednesday. “I’m not telling you that this investigation is over or that we have all the answers yet.”
Philadelphia police have said Schmidt was walking home when two masked people approached him. During what investigators say was an attempted robbery, one of the suspects — whom Krasner identified as Smith — shot Schmidt.
Surveillance camera footage shows that one suspect took Schmidt’s phone, prosecutors said Wednesday, then rifled through his pockets before knocking him to the ground.
Additional footage later shows Schmidt walking behind the suspects, before one throws a phone down the block and the other fires a bullet into Schmidt’s chest.
Krasner declined to say whether the gun used to kill Schmidt had been recovered.
Investigators say surveillance cameras captured the suspects before and after the shooting. One was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with a hand-drawn “KONFUSED” logo and a skull-and-crossbones sketched in black marker on the front, according to the footage. After the shooting, police said, both suspects fled wearing white T-shirts.
Philadelphia police and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force are searching for the teenagers. Both agencies are offering rewards for information leading to their arrests. Krasner said Smith has ties to Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood and Delaware.
Anyone with information may contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-866-865-8477 or submit a tip online through its website: usmarshals.gov. Tips can also be provided to Philadelphia police at 215-686-3334 or 215-686-8477.