‘Nobody Really Cared about Him’: Mothers of Philadelphia Homicide Victims Testify amid Liberal DA Impeachment Effort
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Philadelphia residents who have been impacted by violent crime in the city testified before a Pennsylvania House committee on Thursday as lawmakers gather evidence in an effort to impeach the city’s liberal district attorney, Larry Krasner.
Several mothers who lost their children to homicide testified before the committee in-person and through pre-recorded video, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
One mother testified about her anger over her daughter’s killer being released on bail and her frustration over having not been given updates on the case by the prosecutor.
Several people who offered testimony suggested the district attorney’s office’s falling conviction rate for some crimes, including gun possession charges, has meant that offenders do not fear consequences.
Nakisha Billa, whose 21-year-old son was shot to death last year, told the committee: “I am here because of the lawlessness that continues to plague the city. This is not a political stance. This is a stance from a mother whose whole world has been turned upside down since the death of my son.”
Billa said the city’s gun violence epidemic has worsened the trauma of losing her son and has pushed her to want to leave Philadelphia, despite being a lifelong resident, according to the paper.
Jennifer Meleski testified that detectives who investigated the murder of her son, 24-year-old Charles Maude, failed to keep in touch with her throughout the investigation. She said she gathered video footage from residents and businesses near where Maude was shot because detectives did not.
“I feel like nobody really cared about him,” Meleski said.
State Representative Martina White, a Republican from Philadelphia, said Krasner should be impeached after the testimony.
“It is time that [Krasner] really pays attention to what the people of Philadelphia want. They want criminals held accountable, and they want it to start now,” White said.
The hearing comes after the state house moved to open an impeachment inquiry in June, one month before forming the Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order. In August, the committee issued a subpoena for documents as part of its investigation.
Krasner has called the committee illegal, politically motivated an an anti-democratic effort, according to the report. He said he did not plan to comply with the subpoena, arguing that some of the documents the committee requested would require his office to break the law. He filed a petition in Commonwealth Court to block the subpoena. The state house then voted 162-to-38 to hold the DA in contempt.
The hearing on Thursday aimed to let the victims have their voices heard; Krasner was not invited to speak.
While Republicans have blamed Krasner’s policies for rising crime, those who oppose efforts to impeach the DA blame the state’s Republican lawmakers for refusing to pass gun-safety measures.
A group of about 50 people protested outside of the hearing on Thursday. The protest featured a circus with a juggler on stilts, acrobats, people dressed as zebras and an elephant — a political stunt aimed at sending the message that the hearings were a “disenfranchisement circus,” according to the report.
Meanwhile, Krasner defended his policies on Wednesday during an interview with Fox 29.
Reporter Mike Jerrick suggested to Krasner that maybe his policies are “not working.” The DA replied, “It is working.”
“There’s been a thousand people killed in 20 months,” Jerrick shot back.
“It is working,” Krasner said. “The reality is, when you look at all these jurisdictions, we had a devastating blow from the pandemic, and there is absolutely no correlation between the progressive or traditional [approaches to crime] and the rate of crime.”
Asked whether he had considered resigning, Krasner said: “No, because the fact is that Philadelphia voted for me overwhelmingly because they want what we are doing.”
