Man, 18, held for trial in playground slaying

Lamar Morris Taylor said he didn't know the guy who shot his father, never saw him before the night of June 26.

But the 14-year-old from Strawberry Mansion told a Philadelphia judge Tuesday that he was sure the man at the defense table - Amir Jamal - was the gunman.

Taylor's identification led Municipal Court Judge Joseph C. Waters Jr. to order Jamal, 18, to stand trial on murder and attempted-murder charges in the shooting at a Strawberry Mansion playground that killed Nyeme Taylor, 30, and wounded three children.

Jamal allegedly shot and killed the elder Taylor when he returned with Lamar Taylor to the Mander Recreation Center at 33d and Diamond Streets after the teen was jumped by a group of youths.

"He was trying to protect his family," Assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti said after the hearing.

Police said about 200 teens and young adults were attending an unauthorized party at the Mander center when the violence erupted.

Lamar Taylor said he went alone to Mander about 8:30 p.m. and was jumped and pummeled by a group.

Lamar Taylor testified that he walked home and told his parents what happened. He said his father, mother, and several siblings went with him back to Mander about 9 p.m.

Lamar Taylor said his father challenged members of the group to fight his son fairly, one-on-one.

Instead, Lamar Taylor testified, the group again jumped him.

"I heard gunshots," Lamar Taylor said, and as the group paused, he saw the man he identified as Jamal shoot his father and continue firing after his father fell to the ground.

Defense attorney Joseph C. Santaguida questioned whether Lamar Taylor misidentified Jamal, noting that the teen's statement to detectives described the shooter as a light-skinned African American.

"Would you call this light-skinned?" Santaguida asked, motioning to Jamal, who has very dark skin.

"I saw him. He was the shooter," Lamar Taylor replied.

Santaguida said later that Jamal has maintained that he was not at the rec center the night of the shootings.

Besides Nyeme Taylor's death, Jamal is charged with attempted murder for wounding three others: Kianna Burns, 15, Lamar Taylor's sister, who was shot in the leg; Shariah Street, 6, shot twice in the face; and Tequanna Dancy, 10, hit in the face by a bullet fragment.

Cipolletti said all three were expected to fully recover.