Search fatalities

Fanta Bility

Age : 8

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/27/2021

Location : 300 Calcon Hook Road

City : Sharon Hill

County : Delaware

State : Pennsylvania

Agency : Sharon Hill Police Department

Officer(s) :Brian Devaney; Devon Smith; Sean Dolan

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by officer firing into crowd

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/27/2021, eight-year-old Fanta Bility attended an Academy Park High School football game with her mother and older sister in Sharon Hill. As spectators were leaving the stadium after the game, gunfire erupted approximately a block away following a dispute between two groups of young men.
Sharon Hill Police Department officers Brian Devaney, Devon Smith and Sean Dolan were stationed outside the stadium as part of the police detail for the football game. After hearing gunfire, the officers fired toward a vehicle and the crowd leaving the stadium. The three officers collectively discharged 25 rounds. Fanta, her 12-year-old sister and two other people were struck by police gunfire.
Fanta was struck in the back as she and her family were leaving the game. She was transported to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Investigators ultimately determined that the bullet that killed Fanta came from one of the three Sharon Hill police officers. Ballistics testing could not establish which officer fired the fatal round.
The initial handling of the case became highly controversial. Prosecutors first charged two teenagers involved in the earlier exchange of gunfire with offenses that included murder in connection with Fanta's death. A grand jury investigation later concluded that the police officers' decision to fire toward the vehicle and a crowd of people leaving the stadium caused Fanta's death and wounded three other people. The murder charges against the teenagers relating to Fanta's death were subsequently withdrawn.
On 01/18/2022, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer charged Devaney, Smith and Dolan with voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and 10 counts each of reckless endangerment. Prosecutors said they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the three officers fired the shots that killed Fanta and wounded the other civilians.
Sharon Hill Borough fired all three officers. Devaney had been a Sharon Hill police officer since 2005, Smith since 2015 and Dolan since 2018. An outside administrative investigation subsequently examined the department's policies, training, supervision and response to the shooting.
On 11/10/2022, Devaney, Smith and Dolan each pleaded guilty to 10 counts of reckless endangerment under a plea agreement supported by Fanta's family. The manslaughter charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.
In May 2023, the three former officers were sentenced to five years of probation, including the first 11 months on house arrest. They were also prohibited from possessing firearms and barred from working as police officers during their sentences.
Fanta's family and other people injured by the police gunfire filed federal civil-rights litigation against Sharon Hill Borough and the officers. In September 2023, Sharon Hill announced that it had reached a federal settlement with Fanta's family and the other plaintiffs.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/02/girl-shooting-football-game-police-sharon-hill