By Kitty Caparella
The Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — Donyea Phillips, a 10th-grade dropout wearing white plastic rosaries around his neck, was hoping for a miracle.
But the 17-year-old, who pleaded guilty yesterday to shooting two cops on Nov. 13 in East Frankford, didn’t get it. Instead, Common Pleas Judge Glenn B. Bronson told Phillips he faces 111 years in prison and $450,000 in fines, the maximum penalty.
Nevertheless, Phillips, a tall teen with a slight goatee, admitted that he fired “five or six times” out the window, wounding Officers Stephen Holts in the hip and Christopher Reed in the thigh and leg.
The two officers, backed up by 10 others, were shot while trying to execute a search warrant on the house where Phillips and his cousin, Troy Zimmerman, had been living and allegedly selling crack cocaine out of a window on Orthodox Street near Josephine.
Phillips yesterday admitted to two counts of attempted murder, 120 counts of recklessly endangering 10 police officers, conspiracy, trespassing, weapons offenses and drug charges.
In return, nearly 60 other charges were dropped by Assistant District Attorney Namratha Ravikant. Bronson set sentencing for Aug. 15 and revoked Phillips’ bail. There was no agreement about a sentence.
Ravikant told the court that at 1:45 p.m. on Nov. 13, a confidential informant bought two packets of crack marked with a Batman symbol with $20 supplied by drug cops.
At 6:20 p.m. that day, she said, the officers tried to serve the warrant but Phillips took a Glock from under his mattress and fired at them.
Phillips then called his mother, Josette Phillips, and admitted to the shooting, Ravikant said. Meantime, the SWAT team and police negotiators convinced the teens to come out.
Later that night, Ravikant said, Phillips gave a three-page confession to police. He admitted to shooting one officer, buying his gun from a man named “Yea” for $300 and a cell phone, and selling drugs from the window.
The statement was signed by him and his mother, Ravikant said.
Phillips’ attorney, James Lammendola, said that the police officers did not wear uniforms or announce themselves.
Ravikant said that one officer showed his badge to someone in the house through a window, but the person walked away.
Police seized two baggies filled with 30 packets each of crack cocaine, and a loose packet with the Batman symbol on it. The crack weighed 14.68 grams.
Police also confiscated two razors, two plates, a round mirror and a Pyrex pan, all with a white substance later tested and found to be crack.
Neither Phillips nor Zimmerman had permission from the landlord or owner, Joseph Fiorvanti, to live in the house, said Ravikant. *
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