Teen faces murder trial in shooting of man who was throwing a football with boys
Quadir Findley, 17, was held for trial on murder and weapon offenses in the May 23, 2017, shooting death of Benjamin Drains, 23, who was gunned down in an Olney alley while tossing a football with kids.
Benjamin Drains was walking in his Olney neighborhood in May when he saw three boys, ages 9 to 11, tossing a football in a back alley. The 23-year-old cashier for the city's Department of Revenue decided to stop and play with the children, a prosecutor said Tuesday.
"He happened to be walking through the area and threw the football with them," Assistant District Attorney Lou Tumolo said after a preliminary hearing.
Then, as a surveillance video showed, about 7:40 p.m. May 23 a man in a gray hoodie and blue athletic pants walked past Drains and the boys in the alley behind the 200 block of Widener Street. Seconds later, the man returned, extended his right arm toward Drains, and fired a gun, shooting him eight times.
As Drains fell to the ground, the boys ran. The video showed Drains getting up and running away.
But he collapsed about a block and a half away at Second Street and Nedro Avenue. Police rushed him to Einstein Medical Center with gunshot wounds in his upper body, arms, and thigh. Drains was pronounced dead at 10:31 that night, Tumolo said.
Drains, whose late father was a Philadelphia police officer and whose uncle is a police lieutenant, was a "good kid" with no criminal record, the prosecutor said.
On Tuesday, the alleged shooter, Quadir Findley, 17, of the 3000 block of Cottman Avenue in Mayfair, was held for trial by Municipal Court Judge Wendy Pew on murder and weapons charges. No possible motive was disclosed during the hearing, and Tumolo said afterward that the motive was unclear.
Philadelphia Police Officer Michael Braun of the 35th District, which encompasses Olney, testified that before the shooting he had seen Findley about a dozen times hanging out in Olney. Twice he stopped Findley and spoke to him to determine if he was wanted by police — the first time in a shooting case, the second in a gunpoint home invasion. Tumolo said after the hearing that police released Findley in both cases.
Braun testified that he was called to the homicide unit to view the surveillance video of the May 23 shooting because of his past interactions with Findley. Upon seeing the video, he said, he recognized the shooter as Findley.
It was during Braun's testimony that the video of the dramatic shooting was shown in court.
Homicide Detective Ohmarr Jenkins testified that police developed Findley as a suspect after interviews with people from the neighborhood and police officers, and from the surveillance video. After obtaining a warrant to search Findley's home, police recovered clothing, ammunition, and two cellphones, Jenkins said.
Photos recovered from Findley's Facebook account on his cellphone showed him wearing clothing similar to that worn by the shooter, the detective testified.
Defense attorney David Bahuriak argued that the video did not show the shooter clearly.
The victim's family members declined to comment after the hearing.
Frank Breslin, commissioner of the city's Department of Revenue, said in a statement that Drains was a seasonal temporary clerical assistant with the payment processing unit from October 2014 until his death. "Benjamin, or BJ as he was more commonly known, was a friendly and cooperative employee," Breslin said.
"Benjamin was loved by his co-workers in every office that he worked because of the positive energy he brought with him. Every morning he greeted all his co-workers and gave his manager a hug," Breslin said, adding that whenever Drains was asked how he was doing, he replied: "I'm good. I'm always good. I don't know what a bad day is."