Philadelphia Man Gets Long Sentence In Shooting Of 2 Innocent Bystanders
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A 22-year-old Philadelphia man with past convictions for drug-dealing is likely to spend most of the rest of his life in prison after a judge sentenced him for a reckless shooting last June that left two innocent bystanders -- a pregnant woman and a working father of five -- wounded in Southwest Philadelphia.
Calling it "a terrible tragedy" and "a terrible nightmare," Judge Rayford Means sentenced defendant Kalee Hill to 39 to 78 years in prison for firing at a carload of rivals. Some of his stray bullets hit the pregnant woman in the arm. Though she lost full use of the arm, the baby was later born healthy.
The other victim, 42-year-old Raymond Erwin, says he never saw it coming.
"My back was to the corner of the intersection of 66th and Elmwood," he told KYW Newsradio after today's sentencing. "I was talking to my friends and got hit from behind."
A self-described workaholic, Erwin had just finished working that Sunday when he had stopped to chat with a friend about an upcoming 25-year high school reunion. He woke up in the hospital, has had three operations and faces a fourth, but is full of hope.
"The good thing for me is, I am a strong faith-based person, so I know that it's going to get back to normal," says Erwin, the father of five. "It's just a matter of time."
The defendant was on parole and probation at the time of the shooting.
Reported by Tony Hanson, KYW Newsradio 1060
