Subway hammer attacker pleads guilty

The mentally ill West Oak Lane man accused in last September's unprovoked hammer attack on a sleeping subway passenger pleaded guilty today before a Philadelphia judge.

Thomas Scantling, 27, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime before Common Pleas Court Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastase.

Scantling's public defender, Gregg Blender, said Scantling will be sentenced Oct. 27. The plea did not include an agreement on sentence, Blender said, meaning Scantling could spend the next 12-1/2 to 25 years in prison.

In July, after he was found mentally competent to stand trial but before he had pleaded guilty, Scantling made an unusual statement in court in which he apologized to the victim and said that he had stopped taking the medications prescribed to control his schizophrenia.

Scantling was accused of the Sept. 4, 2008 attack that injured Dewayne Taylor, a lab worker on his way home from work on the Broad Street Subway.

Scantling was arrested five days later at a mental health facility he voluntarily entered after the attack.

Taylor, 21, was on his way home from work at 12:15 a.m., sitting with eyes closed and listening to his iPod when he was attacked.

The SEPTA video - replayed nationally on newscasts - shows Taylor, Scantling and Scantling's 6-year-old son board the train at City Hall station. Taylor takes a seat near the door. Scantling is seen kissing his son and guiding him to an open seat.

At that point, the video appears to show Scantling reach into a backpack, turn away from the camera and begin hitting Taylor.

Taylor ultimately rode to Allegheny Avenue station and walked to Temple University Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.