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Lawyers for the ex-Sharon Hill cops accused of killing Fanta Bility want manslaughter charges dismissed

Lawyers for the three officers argued Monday that they were improperly charged, and not responsible for the girl's death.

A relative holds up a cell phone with a photo of Fanta Bility.
A relative holds up a cell phone with a photo of Fanta Bility.Read moreJESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer

Defense attorneys for three former Sharon Hill police officers charged with killing Fanta Bility after a high school football game last August asked a judge Monday to dismiss the manslaughter charges against them.

Lawyers for Devon Smith, Brian Devaney, and Sean Dolan said the officers were not responsible for the 8-year-old girl’s death, and were being unfairly targeted “because of their profession” amid political pressure from activist groups.

But Deputy District Attorney Douglas Rhoads disputed that characterization, saying the criminal charges against the three men were warranted because their actions that night started an “unbroken chain of events” that directly led to the shooting death of the child.

Delaware County Court Judge Margaret Amoroso made no decision Monday and gave both sides time to submit additional written arguments. She is expected to rule on the motion to dismiss the charges at a hearing on Sept. 16.

Fanta was killed while walking with her mother and older sister after a football game at Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill. The three officers, monitoring the crowd leaving the stadium, heard gunfire exchanged between two teens nearby and fired 25 times at a Chevrolet Impala that happened to be driving nearby at the time, and that they mistakenly believed was involved in that shooting, police said.

Some of the officers’ bullets flew past the car, hitting four people, including Fanta, who died at the scene in her mother’s arms. It’s unclear which officer fired the shot that killed the girl: The bullet recovered from her body was too badly damaged to trace back to a specific gun, according to prosecutors.

“I’m not going to get up here and say any of these officers wanted to kill Fanta Bility or any of the spectators,” Rhoads said during Monday’s hearing. “But when they targeted and fired at that Impala, with the stadium as their backdrop, they were reckless.”

Devaney told one of his colleagues at the scene that the officers were being shot at and that he, Smith, and Dolan believed the car was the source of the gunfire, according to court filings. But the shots were fired by the teens, Angelo “AJ” Ford and Hasein Strand, who were standing 140 feet away from the officers and shot at each other at the height of a petty argument after the game.

The teens were initially charged with Fanta’s murder under a legal theory called transferred intent. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said the two were responsible for the child’s death because their gunfire caused the officers to fire in turn. He later withdrew those charges after a grand jury recommended charges against the officers.

The grand jury concluded that Dolan, Smith, and Devaney should be charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault, and related crimes. The borough council fired the officers days later.

Steven Patton, who represents Dolan, said Monday that Ford and Strand — not the officers — set off the chain of events that led to Fanta’s death. He said Stollsteimer’s initial decision to charge them with murder was appropriate.

Amoroso questioned what role, if any, the teens played in the girl’s killing and urged both sides to submit additional arguments to her before the next hearing.

Borough officials, meanwhile, commissioned an independent report into the officers’ conduct, and Sharon Hill Solicitor Courtney Richardson said it would be released by the end of this week. The report will summarize a nine-month investigation by former Philadelphia District Attorney Kelley Hodge, who was hired to examine the officers’ use-of-force training and determine best practices for community relations, according to Richardson.