PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia judge on Monday ordered that the two young teens accused of fatally beating a 73-year-old man with a traffic cone in North Philadelphia last summer should stand trial for murder.
Gamara Mosley and Richard Jones, both 14 years old, were arrested last July after they allegedly chased the man, James "Simmie" Lambert Jr., and struck him multiple times with the traffic cone.
Lambert collapsed on the sidewalk, suffering from a serious head injury, prosecutors said. He later died at the hospital.
The tragedy was laid bare at Monday's emotional hearing, where the courtroom gallery was packed with Lambert's devastated loved ones seated alongside Mosley and Jones' heartbroken families, all forced to watch in the most graphic detail yet how the kids allegedly killed Lambert that June night.
Prosecutors played a video that appeared to show a group of seven kids exiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center playground, near 22nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue on June 23, around 2:30 a.m., and chasing Lambert as he sought to cross the street.
The video appeared to show Mosley picking up an orange traffic cone before Jones took it from her, then ran after Lambert and threw it at him.
The cone hit Lambert, and he fell to the sidewalk.
As Lambert attempted to get up, Mosley picked up the cone and struck him in the back. Lambert continued to try and walk away, but Mosley picked up the cone again, the video showed, chased after him, and bashed him again over the head, partially out of the camera's view.
Passersby stopped to help after seeing Lambert on the ground, unresponsive with a head injury. Prosecutors said that Mosley then told the bystanders Lambert fell, and gave them her phone to call 911.
An ambulance rushed Lambert to the hospital, but he died the next day from his head trauma, prosecutors said.
Surveillance video of the kids gathering around the corner a short time later showed Jones appearing to imitate Lambert getting struck.
Mosley, represented by attorney Lonny Fish, waived her preliminary hearing.
Jones' attorney Caroline Turner argued that Jones' single throw could not have killed Lambert. Turner said the video showed the cone hit Lambert's right side, but the autopsy report, she said, stated that Lambert's injuries were on the left side of his head.
"The cone Richard threw hit Mr. Lambert's shoulder, not his head," she said.
She also argued that prosecutors did not describe any of the events leading up to the attack. Turner had previously told The Inquirer that the kids all met up in the park, where Jones worked as a camp counselor, after sneaking out of the house. Lambert yelled at the kids that they were out too late and should go home, she said.
But Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope strongly disputed that, calling Jones the "first actor in this conspiracy."
Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew ultimately said she "agreed completely" with prosecutors, and ordered that Jones and Mosley be held on all charges: third-degree murder, conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of crime.
In an unusual twist, the District Attorney's Office admitted that, unbeknownst to them, Jones and Mosley had been released on bail in recent months. Lambert's family was also not aware they were released, said Lambert's niece Tania Stephens, until Stephens' daughter happened to recognize Jones while he was walking down the street a few weeks ago.
In November, the required 10% of Jones' $750,000 bail was posted by the Movement Alliance Project, a nonprofit that works alongside the Community Bail Fund to post bail for people who cannot afford to themselves.
The same organization posted Mosley's bail, of the same amount, on Jan. 13, and she was released.
Pope said there is no system that alerts the DA's Office when a defendant has posted bail. Pope said that because of safety concerns from Lambert's family — who said they've faced harassment in recent weeks — and because the defendants were held on the charges, their bail should be increased.
Turner, Jones' lawyer, said the teen should not be forced to return to the juvenile jail, the conditions of which she said are dire and not rehabilitative. Since Jones' release in November, he has successfully reenrolled in online school, therapy, and mentorship programs, she said.
Pew ultimately said the bail was "already too low" and increased Mosley's to $850,000, and Jones' to $1 million. If bail is posted again, she ordered that both be placed under house arrest.
Candace McKinley, lead organizer with the Philadelphia Bail Fund, said the organization was "disappointed" in Pew's decision, and is working to determine whether it can post the teens' increased bails.
"We post bail in part because we believe that connecting people with resources pretrial leads to better outcomes in the community," McKinley said.
Mosley's attorney, Fish, said he agreed with the condition of house arrest.
His hope, he said, is that his client's case is ultimately resolved in juvenile court.
"She is only 14 years old, and with the proper treatment, she could not be a threat to society," he said. "This isn't an eye for an eye."
Lambert's niece Tania Stephens said she was glad to see the teens would face house arrest if their bail is reposted. Mostly, she said, she just wants justice for her beloved Uncle Simmie — a lifelong Philadelphian and giving churchgoer who was like a father to her and others.
"His only crime was to ask these children ... why are you out here so late," she said. "That should not mean the end of your life."
