Three former Pennsylvania police officers who were involved in the shooting death of 8-year-old Fanta Bility outside a high school football game in 2021 pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 counts of reckless endangerment, court records show.
Former Sharon Hill officers Brian Devaney, 41, Devon Smith, 34, and Sean Dolan, 25, agreed to plead guilty to these charges in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, ABC News reports. The former officers were facing 12 counts each of manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith
Prosecutors discussed the plea agreement with Fanta's family, who said they wanted to end the case so they could begin the healing process, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement, Bility's uncle, Abu Bility, read after the hearing, he said the family is "still coming to grips with the reality that our beloved Fanta is gone forever. "That is why it is critically important for our family to begin the healing process which cannot happen while this matter remains unresolved," he said, according to WHYY.
"Therefore, after much prayer and discussion with our family, we determined it was in our best interest for the District Attorney to ensure that the police officers take responsibility for their actions, admit to their reckless conduct endangering many, and killing our Fanta," he said.
After that, he said, "we can as a family and as a community, finally have some closure and begin the healing process." The shooting outside the Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill took place on the evening of August 27 — after its football team beat out rival Pennsbury High School.
Smith, Dolan and Devaney were at the school to help control the crowd after the football game. As fans were leaving the stadium, the officers said they heard gunfire they believed was directed at them — and fired their weapons in response.
Two teens who were in an argument fired their guns close to the school, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said at the time, ABC News reports. Authorities aren't sure which officer's gun was the one that fired the fatal shot that killed Fanta. But an investigation determined that a bullet from one of the officer's guns took the little girl's life.
"We have now concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that it was, in fact, shots from the officers that struck and killed Fanta Bility and injured three others," Stollsteimer said in a statement in January.
The officers were fired from the Sharon Hill Borough Police Department after the fatal shooting. Attorneys for the former officers argued that they didn't intend to hurt anyone in the crowd when they fired their weapons, NBC News reports. As the former officers await sentencing, Fanta's family continues to mourn her death.
"The agony we feel constantly reliving the loss of our dear Fanta who was just 8 years old when she was killed by Sharon Hill police officers, is impossible to describe with words," her family said in the statement her uncle read after the hearing.
"Since her mother and siblings were witnesses to this tragic incident, they will have to live with that trauma imprinted in their memories for the rest of their lives." Stollsteimer said in a statement to WHYY News that "Nothing that happened in the courtroom today can lessen the grief that we have all felt since that terrible night. "Led by the family's wishes, we have arrived at today's result. Today's conviction brings accountability for Fanta Bility's death."