An early morning triple shooting left 1 35-year-old man dead in Southwest Philadelphia. The shooting left shell casings scattered on the ground near railroad tracks at 58th Street and Woodland Avenue.
Triple Shooting Leaves 1 Dead
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College Crunch: Some Colleges Cutting Tuition
La Salle University decided to make a risky mood two years ago and cut tuition significantly, which they call a "tuition reset." University of the Sciences is also resetting tuition for the upcoming fall semester. And Rosemont College has also reduced tuition.
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Meek Mill, Pa. Governor Call for Criminal Justice Reform
Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called for criminal justice reform at an event held symbolically in the shadow of Independence Hall Thursday morning.
The unlikely pair joined other advocates and local lawmakers, including Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa., in a "call to action" from inside the National Constitution Center.
Mill, whose legal name in Robert Williams, said he was raised in a neighborhood where young black men constantly came in contact with police.
"I'm still not a free man," he said. "I always feel like my freedom could be taken."
The Philadelphia native battled nerves as he thanked supporters and spoke about wanting to raise his 6-year-old son.
He was released on bail last month after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court intervened following a prolonged legal battle dating to November when the 30-year-old was sentenced to two to four years in prison for violating his probation.
After his release, Mill celebrated at the Sixers playoff game, where he sat next to Wolf and other celebrities, including comedian Kevin Hart.
Speaking on Thursday, Wolf said that Mill's case put a spotlight on the changes needed in Pennsylvania's criminal justice system, which must be "better and fairer for everyone."
“The debate about how we can fix our criminal justice system is complicated, and over time that debate has changed to reflect the modern realities and issues present in our system,” Wolf said.
“I believe that we can improve the criminal justice system so that we can protect victims while also ending a cycle of incarceration that has left so many people feeling trapped, helpless and without an opportunity to return to society after they have been released.”
Among other changes, Wolf wants to stop "technical parole violations" from landing people in jail, he said.
Echoing that sentiment, Mill said he believes people struggling with addiction should not be punished for drug use. He, too, was addicted to opioids and credited his probation officer for helping him enter rehab, Mill said. The rapper failed a drug test while on probation for his initial 2007 arrest, one of five violations that landed him in prison.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who did not join Mill and Wolf Thursday, told NBC10 Wednesday that his office is currently reviewing the case.
Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley has about 45 days to decide whether she will reverse Mill's conviction, according to Krasner. If she does, his office must then decide whether to drop the case or come up with a resolution.
“A decision will be made in the same way it has been for a bunch of broke people that are not being reported on in the press but who are in identical positions," Krasner said. "It will be based upon what the law requires.”
The Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association also responded to Wolf and Mill by saying they support "responsible reforms." "We are always willing to take a look at smart, balanced reforms," association president and Berks County District Attorney John Adams said.
Adams' statement went on to call Mill's case is unique.
"We cannot, however, let one individual under very unique circumstances indict an entire system," Adams said. "As this conversation moves forward, it is imperative that policymakers look through the lens of public safety and ensure fairness for defendants and victims. We caution against the wholesale elimination of appropriate consequences and accountability in the criminal justice system cloaked in the concept of reform."
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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Temple Students Ready to Run Past Campus for Cause Close to Them
With the Blue Cross Broad Street Run just days away, some Temple students share why this 10-mile run is special for them.
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Fight Over Light Switch Leads to Deadly Stabbing at Airport
An argument over a light switch escalated into a deadly stabbing Thursday morning at Philadelphia International Airport, police said.
The stabbing happened around 11 a.m. in a break room for Worldwide Flight Services, an airplane cleaning contractor for Frontier Airlines, in Terminal E.
Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said one man turned out a light in the break room, upsetting another man sitting there. The two then got into an argument over the lights.
Walker said a third man then got involved and after some shoves, he pulled out a knife and sliced one of the men across the abdomen.
The stabbing left the victim, a 28-year-old man, seriously injured. He was rushed by paramedics to Penn Presbyterian Trauma Center in University City where he later died, Walker said.
Both the alleged doer and the other man involved in the fight ran from the break room, part of a secure area on the tarmac, to the departures hall. They surrendered when police confronted them.
They are both being questioned by homicide detectives.
All three men work for Worldwide Flight Services. Initial information provided by police said they were Frontier employees.
Police have not yet recovered the weapon, but investigators believe it may be a box cutter used as part of the their jobs.
"Obviously, it was a pretty sharp object to get through his stomach and obviously hit some vital organs," Walker said.
The incident never disrupted service at the airport or endangered travelers.
Photo Credit: NBC10
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10 Years Later: Remembering Murdered Philly Police Sergeant
The widow of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski is remembering her husband on the 10th anniversary of the shooting death of the 12-year Philadelphia police veteran.
“10 years ago today, someone took you away from me and our family because they didn’t think your life mattered,” Michelle Liczbinski tweeted Thursday. "It mattered to me. I miss you."
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Sgt. Liczbinski was shot and killed on May 3, 2008 when he tried to apprehend three bank robbery suspects and one member of the trio, Howard Cain, fired at the officer, killing him. Cain was later killed by police in the manhunt that followed Liczbinski's death.
The remaining two suspects, Eric Floyd and Levon Warner, were later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder. Cain was the gunman, while Warner drove the getaway car and Floyd handled the assault-style rifle prior to the shooting. The bank robbery took place inside a grocery story in the city's Port Richmond neighborhood.
Sgt. Liczbinski left behind his widow and three children. He was 39.
Michelle Liczbinski planned to mark the 10th anniversary of her husband's death by going to his hero plaque, she said.
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Tips to Kick Asphalt: Blue Cross Broad Street Run
Tips to help you reach your personal goal at the 2018 Blue Cross Broad Street Run.
Photo Credit: Kait Privitera
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Blue Cross Broad Street Run Road Closures
The Blue Cross Broad Street Run is off to the races this Sunday. But don’t let these road closures keep you from experiencing the 10-mile event!
Road Closures for Sunday, May 6
4 a.m. to 7 a.m. – Broad Street, Olney to Windrim Avenue
7 a.m. – Broad Street, Windrim to Erie Avenue
7.30 a.m. – Remainder of route
8 a.m. – Race begins
Roads will be opened as soon as street sweepers can clean the route, sometime around 11.30 a.m.
All drivers and motorists should expect delays in the area of the run on Sunday morning.
For more route, running and other information about the event, click here.
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In His Own Words: Willie Veasy From Graterford Prison
Willie Veasy has been in prison since 1992 after he was convicted of murder in the death of a man in the Franklinville section of North Philadelphia. Veasy's case is back in court after an attorney with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project found holes in multiple facets of the original trial.
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Has This Man Served 26 Years for a Crime He Didn't Commit?
The eyewitness has since allegedly confessed to being legally blind.
The detective who interrogated the suspect allegedly kicked the young man repeatedly in his testicles before getting a signed confession.
The suspect, according to his former boss, was working miles away when the slaying took place.
Still, Willie Veasy remains behind bars, in prison for the last 26 years since his conviction in 1992.
Is the now 52-year-old man innocent of a murder in the Franklinville section of North Philadelphia all those years ago? That question faces renewed scrutiny this spring. New District Attorney Larry Krasner's office is reviewing the case, his chief of conviction review told NBC10.
"I will say that it is a case that we are looking at," the review chief, Patricia Cummings, said.
If the DA's office decides that the charges aren't appropriate in light of new evidence, the two sides could request a new trial. In a best-case scenario for Veasy, the DA could then decide to drop the charges.
The fallback option is a Post-Conviction Relief Act petition by an attorney for the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which is working on Veasy's case. He could ask a judge for a new trial through that appeal.
He is adamant that he's an innocent man.
"You have to wake up to that realization that you're actually in here, which you really can't believe," Veasy told NBC10 in a phone interview from Graterford State Prison in Montgomery County.
"I can't believe I'm actually incarcerated for something I didn't do," Veasy said.
Cummings, hired by District Attorney Larry Krasner from a similar post in Texas, has her hands full. Veasy is part of a cluster of prisoners currently challenging their life sentences on murder convictions in the late 1980s through early 1990s.
Their challenges are often rooted in tactics by Philadelphia homicide detectives whose approach is now being scrutinized not only in local courts, but also in federal lawsuits.
An ongoing lawsuit filed by exonerated former lifer Anthony Wright and now before a federal judge includes numerous claims against the group of homicide detectives, ranging from false confessions to violence against suspects. (Find the full lawsuit at the bottom of the story.)
In the 2016 lawsuit, the Veasy case is mentioned as part of a rundown of numerous accusations against the detectives and their supervisors who worked in the city homicide unit three decades ago.
It claims that a now-retired detective who interrogated Veasy may have forced him into signing a confession. Eleven detectives, along with the City of Philadelphia, are named in the Wright lawsuit.
The detective "smacked him around and kicked his testicles several times until Mr. Veasy agreed to sign the 'confession,'" according to the lawsuit.
Seven years after Veasy's trial, the lead witness in the case said in a sworn statement taken as part of an investigation by a University of Pennsylvania law professor and his law class that her vision is, and always has been, poor.
"My vision is very poor and I'm virtually legally blind," she said. "My vision was like this at the time of the crime."
The witness, whom NBC10 is not identifying, could not be reached for comment.
In addition to questions about the confession and the witness's testimony, Veasy also has an alibi, according to the man who was his boss at the time of the murder.
"I watched it unfold and knew that it was absolutely wrong," Seth Schram told NBC10 in an interview. "It was absolutely wrong."
Schram was Veasy's manager when they both worked at a Houlihan's restaurant in Jenkintown. Schram said Veasy's timecard from the night of the murder indicated he was at the restaurant when the crime occurred.
The restaurant, now a Chili's, is seven miles from the crime scene at Seventh and Russell streets.
He said there is "zero" possibility Veasy could have clocked in and then went to Seventh and Russell streets that night without anyone noticing.
"That did not happen. Not in Houlihan's restaurant on a Friday night," Schram said.
Veasy lays down to bed each night in a prison cell, like he has for the last 26 years, waiting for an update from his attorney, Marissa Bluestine of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.
He said he has renewed hope that he'll get another day in court.
Still, he said, waking up each day behind bars remains hard to accept after all these years.
"A lot of times it still seems like it’s a dream," Veasy said. "The justice system has definitely failed me, and for some reason it’s been like that for years.
Part Two in an NBC10 Investigators series on the appeals of convicted murderers will take a broad look at how several men were arrested, tried and eventually sentenced to life in prison for slayings in Philadelphia many years ago. Tune in to NBC10 at 11 p.m. Friday, and find the story on the app.
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Photo Credit: Provided
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Sacred Symbol Sparks Lawsuit Against Center City Condo
The beaded Hindu decoration hanging over Akhil Tripathi’s door has been there since 2009. It was a present from his daughter and was blessed by a Hindu priest before the former University of Pennsylvania engineering professor placed it above the entrance to his Center City condo.
That same decoration, called a toran, is now at the center of a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by Tripathi against the Murano Condominium Association, which asked him several times to remove it.
“It’s a symbol of the goddess Lakshmi that says this house is blessed,” Tripathi said, adding that it is bad luck to move it. “This symbol is not intrusive to anybody else.”
A devout Hindu who was born in India, Tripathi decorated his home, which he purchased in 2009, with other religious symbols. Inside his condo, photos of Hindu gods and goddesses adorns the walls and a sacred altar. A copy of the Ramayana, one of the world’s largest and oldest epics, is prominently displayed.
“I’ve had this copy since I was 10 years old,” he told NBC10.
Earlier this year, the Murano condo association threatened to take down his toran if Tripathi did not remove it himself. Court documents show that the association passed a policy in February allowing religious decorations only during holidays. The Jewish Mezuzah was one of several approved exceptions to the policy that could remain in place throughout the year.
According to the association, the toran no longer fits into those guidelines because it is too large.
“Isn’t that what discrimination is all about?” Tripathi asked.
NBC10 reached out to the lawyers representing Murano, but the law firm declined to comment. The lawsuit seeks to bar the association from removing the toran and asks for punitive damages, according to court records.
“I have lived here for almost nine years,” he said. “I intend to live here for a very, very long time … I am not moving.”
Photo Credit: NBC10
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Counting Down to the Blue Cross Broad Street Run
Three days and counting until the Blue Cross Broad Street Run. This is the 39th year of the race which is now the largest 10 mile race in the country.
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Kevin Hart Safe After Scare at Boston Airport
Comedian Kevin Hart was flying into Boston when he had a scare at Logan International Airport.
Hart's private plane blew two tires while it was landing.
No one on the plane was injured.
"Your boy got angels on his back. I got real life angels on my back," Hart said in a video posted to SnapChat. "I'm protected. I truly believe it. I always have, but when things like this happen, it's confirmation. Confirmation. God is good, so is life."
Hart flew into town to watch his hometown Philadelphia 76ers take on the Celtics in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Photo Credit: Kevin Hart
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Mosquito Breeding Grounds at Jersey Shore Buzzing in Heat
Winter and Spring storms have left more breeding spots than usual for mosquitos.
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Road Rage Caught On Camera
A street fight stopped traffic in the Philadelphia suburbs. But sources tell NBC10 this fight could have been worse if the two nearby workers hadn't broken it up.
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Record Heat with Possible Rain on the Way
Our area is getting hit with more record heat today, but showers and a cool down are on their way.
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NBC10 Responds: Lessons for Digital Dog Buying
Buying a pet online is not as easy as you'd think. NBC10 Responds has best-practice tips for avoiding online scams.
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New Details About Mid-Air Explosion
Tonight we're learning more about what happened on-board a Southwest Airlines plane after an engine blew apart at 32 thousands feet.
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Taste of Summer
We're tracking record breaking heat across the region. Just look at some of the temperatures. Some neighborhoods in the 90's.
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Sixers Playoff Push
The countdown is nearing completion. 4-plus hours until the Sixers resume their playoff push. It's game two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
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