Man convicted in slaying following Eagles Super Bowl win gets another trial
A New Jersey appeals court ruled that Supreme Life of Lumberton will get a new trial because a prosecutor labeled him as a liar. He was previously convicted of stabbing two men in 2018.
A New Jersey man who was convicted of manslaughter and other charges in a fatal stabbing following the Eagles Super Bowl win in 2018 will get a new trial in part because a prosecutor labeled him a liar in court, a state appeals court has ruled.
A judge’s error in jury instructions also contributed to the decision for a new trial, the court wrote in a decision released Thursday.
In 2019, a Burlington County jury convicted Supreme Life, of Lumberton, of manslaughter in the stabbing death of Moriah Walker, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the attempted murder of Raheem Williams, of Queens, N.Y., and associated weapons offenses. Judge Charles Delehey sentenced Life, formerly known as Charles Hoskins before changing his name for personal and religious reasons, to 20 years in prison.
In the incident, which took place following the Eagles Super Bowl win on Feb. 4, 2018, both Williams and Walker were stabbed in a physical altercation with Life and his son, Antoine Ketler. Life and Ketler initially were tried together in 2019 for first-degree murder and other charges, but Ketler was acquitted.
Life, a former landscaper, roofer, and Army veteran, said that he was outside his home celebrating the Eagles’ win when Ketler, who is a Dallas Cowboys fan, returned home from shopping. Prior to the incident, Life said he cajoled his son about being a Cowboys supporter, prompting Ketler to reply “F— the Eagles,” according to an Inquirer report.
Williams and Walker, both Eagles fans, were reportedly driving by at the time, heard Ketler’s remark, and got into an altercation with him. In their decision, the appellate court notes that the testimony during the trial “diverged” as to what happened to spark the incident.
Walker died as a result of several stab wounds, but Williams survived a stab wound to the abdomen. During the trial, Life claimed he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed the two men with a knife he carried on his belt, saying that he “was overpowered” and in danger, and that he was worried about his son.
During the trial, Life admitted that he lied to police in a statement given on the night of the stabbings, which prompted an assistant prosecutor to call Life a liar multiple times in court. In closing arguments, the prosecutor, who was not named in the appeals court’s decision, said that Life “lied his rear end off” and “is definitely guilty of the murder of Moriah Walker.”
The appeals court decision notes that the prosecutor called Life a “liar” numerous times, and made a number of statements attacking his credibility. At one point, for example, the decision notes that the prosecutor said that based on Life’s testimony, “we know he’s a liar,” and that “he’s a liar, he’s not worthy of belief.”
According to the court’s decision, Life’s admitted lies were “undoubtedly fair game” to bring up during cross-examination and during closing arguments. But it was “improper for a prosecutor to use derogatory epithets to describe a defendant.” Doing so, the court said, essentially “tip[ped] the scale in the State’s favor by repeatedly telling jurors that defendant’s trial testimony was not worthy of belief.”
Additionally, the prosecutor’s “attack went unabated” by Life’s attorney. And when giving instructions to the jury, the judge failed to tell jurors how to interpret self defense in the context of manslaughter. Those errors combined, the court wrote in their decision, “compel reversal.”
A new trial date for Life’s case has not been announced.