Killing of Kada Scott prompts hearing on Philly’s handling of domestic violence cases | City Council roundup

City Council will probe the Philadelphia justice system’s procedures for “protecting victims of abuse and domestic violence” following the killing of 23-year-old Mount Airy resident Kada Scott.

Prosecutors have charged Keon King with murder and other crimes for allegedly kidnapping Scott, shooting her, and burying her body behind a closed East Germantown school in early October.

King was arrested in two separate incidents in December and January in which authorities allege he violently assaulted an ex-girlfriend. In the second incident, he is accused of kidnapping her and choking her in his car.

District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office requested bail to be set at just under $1 million in that case. A judge instead set bail at $200,000, allowing King to be released after posting the necessary $20,000. Krasner’s office did not appeal the bond decision.

Prosecutors then withdrew both cases after the victim and witnesses failed to appear in court. Krasner has admitted that dropping charges against King for the second incident was a mistake because there was enough video evidence to proceed with the prosecution. But he also directed blame at the courts for letting King out on bail following each arrest.

» READ MORE: Philly DA’s Office says it was a mistake to withdraw earlier kidnapping case against the man charged with abducting Kada Scott

“As the City of Philadelphia, I think we failed the young lady, right?” Council President Kenyatta Johnson told reporters Thursday. “You got two agencies, two city departments, pointing fingers at one another, and at the end of the day, that’s not going to bring resolution to the family. And so at the end of the day, that needs to be addressed. And so we’ll look at the system as a whole.”

Council approved a resolution authored by Johnson that will allow the Committee on Public Safety to hold hearings on how the courts, sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office, and police department work to protect domestic violence victims.

Remembering Scott: Council also approved a resolution by Councilmember Anthony Phillips honoring Scott’s life and legacy, describing her as a “a beacon of light and love, remembered for her faith, kindness and countless lives she touched.“

Scott, who opened a beauty spa in Mount Airy when she was 19 years old, “was the kind of person who made others feel seen,” said Phillips, whose 9th District includes Mount Airy.

“Kada was a young woman whose light and kindness reflect the very best of us,” Phillips said in a speech on the Council floor. “She had vision and determination. She believed in the power of self-care, community, and purpose.”

Councilmember Cindy Bass, whose 8th District includes the school where Scott’s remains were found, added that “it’s never been more important that we get our young men together.”

“There is a vulnerability that exists, and protection is needed. Protection is important,” Bass said. “What we do and how we handle our situations in our community — there’s just so much to be done."

Targeted relief: Councilmember Isaiah Thomas last spring pushed for the city to aggressively cut the business income and receipts tax, or BIRT.

Johnson and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker ultimately went with a less aggressive schedule of tax cuts than Thomas had wanted. But the sophomore lawmaker is now trying another route to lighten the BIRT burden: cutting rates for a specific industry.

Thomas on Thursday introduced a bill that would halve BIRT’s two tax rates for childcare providers, which are facing a nationwide crisis over costs, staffing, and financial viability. The gross receipts portion of BIRT would be reduced from 0.1415% to 0.07075% for daycare owners, and the net income rate would go from 5.81% to 2.805%.

“There’s one business and one industry in the city of Philadelphia that touches every district and a lot of families, especially working families, that are struggling,” Thomas said. “This legislation is another example of us trying to think through what we can do to support businesses who support families as well as families who are in need.”

Unloading over loading zones: Heated fights over legislation with narrow impact are nothing new in City Council, where limited proposals often become battlegrounds in larger disputes over issues such as gentrification or the opioid crisis.

But a bill on loading zones in parts of Center City, approved Thursday, may have set a new standard.

The bill, which was proposed by the Parker administration and carried by Johnson, will allow the mayor’s administration to add or remove loading zones in parts of Center City without new ordinances from Council.

It ultimately passed in a 16-0 vote, with Councilmember Brian O’Neill absent.

But the journey to Thursday’s vote began with the high-profile death of a cyclist, involved a lawsuit, went through two rounds of amendments limiting and expanding its scope, and ended with plans for further proposals to tweak the law.

The saga began when Johnson passed a bill making it illegal for vehicles to idle in bike lanes following the 2024 death of Barbara Friedes, who was killed while riding in a bike lane on the 1800 block of Spruce Street. Parker’s administration then adjusted loading zones in Center City streets with bike lanes, with the goal of providing spaces for residents who used the bike lanes for unloading their vehicles.

After neighbors complained the loading zones would take away a handful of parking spots, attorney George Bochetto successfully sued the city, with Common Pleas Court Judge Sierra Thomas Street this summer ruling the administration did not have the authority to promulgate loading zone regulations without Council approval.

The case led to the revelation that a 1980s city law granting that regulatory authority was somehow never officially codified, throwing into legal jeopardy hundreds of parking regulations promulgated over the last four decades. The bill passed Thursday was intended to fix that legal conundrum by reiterating Council’s intention to grant the administration that authority.

But Johnson and Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose districts include parts of Center City, at one point amended the bill so that it applied only to loading zone regulations and to the Spruce and Pine Streets corridors, which have bike lanes. They eventually reversed course on the geography of the bill, adopting a new amendment allowing it to affect all areas of their districts included in the old law. But they maintained the part of the original amendment narrowing its scope to loading zones and not other parking rules.

Meanwhile, Councilmember Jeffery “Jay” Young Jr., whose 5th District also has a slice of Center City, removed his territory from the bill entirely.

Next, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier is expected to work with the administration to fix the regulatory black hole in University City, which is part of her 3rd District. And Johnson said Thursday he may be open to revisiting whether the administration should be given explicit statutory authority to regulate other parking rules beyond loading zones in the affected area of his district.

“We always have an open mind,” he said.

Glory Days: Michael Days was a longtime editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, an executive at The Inquirer, and the inaugural president of the National Association of Black Journalists-Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: Michael Days, pioneering journalist who led the Philadelphia Daily News during its 2010 Pulitzer Prize win for investigative reporting, has died at 72

He died on Saturday in Trenton at 72 years old. Council on Thursday approved a resolution by Johnson and Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson honoring Days “for his extensive career serving Philadelphians.”

A North Philadelphia native and devout Catholic, Days was revered as a principled reporter and editor, a mentor for young journalists of color, and a leader who helmed the Daily News when it won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.