Cops: Lifelong friends died when mistaken for gang rivals

HARVEY LEWIS and Dominique Smith lived in the same neighborhood and walked the same streets as their alleged killers, but lived worlds apart, police said.

The two friends aspired to become Philadelphia police officers. Their alleged killers - Anthony Satchell, 16, and Derek Barnes, 19 - chose a far less righteous path in life.

So it was only fitting that authorities clasped Satchell with Lewis' Philadelphia Police Explorer Cadet handcuffs after he shot the pair execution-style, killing them, as they walked to their respective homes in Grays Ferry eight days ago, said Homicide Capt. James Clark.

Authorities arrested Satchell and Barnes yesterday morning, each in their own homes in South Philadelphia.

"We are feeling amazing right now that justice was served," Smith's sister Ciara Monroe said, before thanking detectives for their relentless work in capturing the pair.

Homicide Capt. James Clark said that Lewis and Smith were not the intended targets.

Satchell, who police fingered as the alleged shooter, and his accomplice Barnes - both of whom have previous arrest records - spotted Lewis and Smith as they walked on 29th Street near Morris, and mistook them for two other boys, Clark said.

Satchell, of Dickinson Street near Taney, and Barnes, of Bailey Street near Morris, approached the teens from behind and shot them each once execution-style.

An ongoing turf war between groups of neighborhood youths had rocked the South Philadelphia neighborhood for months, Clark said.

At first, Satchell and Barnes thought that the pair were rivals, but took a moment to realize that Lewis and Smith were the wrong guys.

"But they decide to shoot them anyway," Clark said. "They were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

A .357 handgun was recovered on the scene. Authorities are awaiting ballistics tests on the weapon. Days after the shooting, tips came flooding in from neighborhood residents and other witnesses, which led authorities to the two suspects, said Clark.

About 7 a.m. yesterday, members of the Specialized Weapons and Tactical unit and Homicide Unit stormed into the suspects' respective homes and arrested them.

In a custom reserved for Philadelphia police officers killed in the line of duty, authorities manacled Satchell with the Philadelphia Police Explorer Cadet handcuffs of Lewis, who joined the program in November.

A 9 mm handgun, which Clark identified as the murder weapon, was recovered in Barnes' home.

"These are two evil individuals who chose to take the lives of good people," said Clark. "We're glad there was a happy ending to this."

Smith and Lewis were longtime friends who lived across the street from one another on 20th Street near Washington Avenue, in South Philadelphia.

The two tried their best to avoid the troubles of the streets to which so many of their peers fell victim.

Lewis, a student at Smith Academics Plus School - at 19th and Wharton streets, in South Philadelphia - joined the police cadet program in November.

His friend, Smith, one of eight siblings, dropped out of school last year, but was in the process of joining the Job Corps, with plans to obtain "his GED, according to family members.

In contrast, their alleged killers were well-known troublemakers in the area, according to police, who said that the two have had previous run-ins with police going back a few years.

On the eve of her brother's funeral, Monroe, who'd gathered at the home of Lewis' family, said both families' spirits are high.

"I never felt this good," she said. "My baby brother could rest in peace."

A viewing for Lewis and Smith will be held jointly tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. at Yesha Ministries Worship Center, 23rd Street near Snyder Avenue. Services will start at 11 a.m., followed by burial. *