PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware County judge rejected a bid to throw out manslaughter charges brought against three former Sharon Hill police officers facing trial in the death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility after a high school football game last year.
Prosecutors had opposed this for months, saying that the former officers — Brian Devaney, Patrick Dolan and Devon Smith — knew the risks of firing toward a crowd after the high school football game last year and were directly responsible for the girl‘s killing.
Manslaughter, but not murder, was the appropriate charge for the officers, because they had not acted under a “mistaken belief of self-defense” by firing at the car, prosecutors said.
