Criminal Law
Three Pennsylvania Officers Are Charged With Manslaughter in the Shooting of an 8-Year-Old
Three Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania, police officers were charged Tuesday in connection with the shooting death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility while she exited a high school football game on August 27, prosecutors said.
Officers Devon Smith, Sean Dolan and Brian Devaney each were charged with one count of voluntary manslaughter, one count of involuntary manslaughter and 10 counts of reckless endangerment, according to the criminal complaints.
Manslaughter charges were “appropriate” in this case rather than murder in the third degree because there was no evidence of malice, a news release from Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer’s office sates. Bail was set at $500,000, unsecured, for each defendant and a preliminary hearing set for January 27 in state court.
