A South Philadelphia teen pleaded guilty yesterday to fatally shooting two teenaged aspiring police officers on a Grays Ferry Street last year.
The unprovoked slayings of best friends Dominique Smith, 17, and Harvey Lewis, 15, stunned and angered many across Philadelphia due to Anthony Satchell's cold-blooded, senseless motive.
Eyewitnesses told police that on April 19, Satchell, of Dickinson Street near Taney, and alleged accomplice Derek "Slim" Barnes, of Bailey Street near Morris, approached the victims thinking they were neighborhood rivals.
When Barnes declared, "No, that ain't them," Satchell responded, "F--- it, I'll shoot them anyways."
He then fired single bullets into each teens' head, killing them instantly on 29th Street near Morris.
Satchell, Barnes, who was also armed with a handgun, and Barnes' girlfriend fled on foot, but not before being seen by a man who was walking his dog.
Lewis was a member of the Philadelphia Police Explorer Cadet Program. Smith, who dreamed of becoming a cop, had made plans to join his best friend in the cadet program.
Yesterday, Satchell, 17, signed away his right to a criminal trial and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, one count of criminal conspiracy to commit murder and one count of possession of a firearm by a minor.
Barnes, 20, has also been charged with double murder, conspiracy and gun violations. His trail date has not been set.
Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner deferred sentencing Satchell until March 8. Under state law he faces two life sentences without the chance for parole. But Lerner noted that Satchell's sentence could be impacted by the U.S. Supreme Court, which is weighing the constitutionality of sentencing minors to life without parole.
"He decided to plead guilty because he realized from day one that what he did was one of the most horribly, brutally, inexplicably stupid things you could ever do," defense attorney Michael Coard said.
"Apart from bringing those two young men back to life, what's the next best thing Anthony Satchell can do?" Coard continued. "The next best thing he can do is to save the families the horror of going through a long drawn-out trial and own up to his own responsibility."
Assistant District Attorney Deborah Watson-Stokes said that Smith and Lewis were good kids who did nothing to Satchell and Barnes.
"These young men observed the rules that many parents tell their kids in these areas: If you see somebody, you don't look at them. You don't say anything to them. You don't bump them. You just mind your business," she said.
"These kids observed those rules, and even that was not enough to save their lives."
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