PHILADELPHIA — Note to former Philadelphia Police Officer Ryan Pownall: You're probably breathing a sigh of relief — or perhaps celebrating — after your case was thrown out of court earlier this week.
But remember this: No matter where you go or what you do, you will always be the ex-cop who got away with murder. Never forget that.
You killed a man by shooting him in the back as he was trying to get away. And for what? All because David Jones attempted to run away after you stopped him in 2017 for illegally riding an old dirt bike that he didn't even want anymore. Surely you've heard by now that the big rig driver had been on his way to sell the bike to a potential buyer who he had met on Craigslist when you decided to arrest him.
You were driving a man and two children to the Special Victims Unit around 6:40 p.m. on June 8, 2017, to give a statement when you came to a stop at a traffic light at Whitaker and Hunting Park Avenues and noticed Jones on the bike.
Instead of calling for assistance and waiting for it to arrive, you got out of your vehicle and confronted Jones. A struggle ensued as you attempted to pat him down, at which point you felt a gun. Jones never shot his weapon, but broke free, attempted to run away, and wound up paying for his actions with his life.
Jones was wrong for having a gun on him, as he wasn't legally authorized to carry one.
But he didn't deserve to die. His life still mattered.
His daddy, with whom he spoke practically every day, loves him.
His mother and stepmother love him.
His 11 younger siblings, who looked up to him and continue to mourn his absence, love him.
His friends love him.
Community members who took to the streets and advocated on his behalf cared about him, too.
Old wounds of theirs that had appeared healed were reopened earlier this week following the devastating news that Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott had dismissed all charges, saying prosecutors had failed to provide proper legal instructions to the grand jury. Her ruling was yet another gut punch to a family who had already been through so much.
Some of his loved ones have fled the city and taken other steps to go on with their lives. But they have never gotten over what happened to him.
"He was excited. He had bought his first home. He wanted to buy all of this different furniture," Gloria Jones, David's stepmother, told me this week. "He wanted to build a family. He wanted to be like — how me and his dad are."
Jones used to say, "'I am always on the road. I want to come home to somebody,'" she recalled. "He's missing nieces and nephews, graduations, and proms."
Hopes of justice for Jones were raised after last month's conviction of former Philadelphia police officer Eric Ruch Jr. of voluntary manslaughter in the 2017 shooting of an unarmed man. That was the first such conviction of a Philly cop in at least a half-century.
Jones' siblings range in age from 9 to 21. One of his sisters will turn 16 in October.
To try to embrace the joys of life amidst the sorrows, some family members who have relocated to an Atlanta suburb are planning a formal, prom-themed birthday celebration for her at a banquet hall later this month. It's going to be everything a teenage girl would want. "That's all we can do. We're trying," Gloria Jones said.
The only thing missing will be Jones.
They've lost someone they loved. They have to live with that.
But Pownall, you have to live with your own memories. You have to live with the image of shooting a man in the back, knowing that your decision devastated an entire family and community that will never be the same.
Your reckless actions on that fateful night five years ago will forever haunt you. That's an awful punishment and one that I wouldn't wish on anyone. But under the circumstances, you managed to get off light.
