It’s life in prison
for teen killers

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

For six long, emotionally draining days, Dawn and Paul Sweeney could only sit and listen to people talk about, write about and talk some more about their teenage son — how he was mercilessly beaten to death by fellow Fishtown youths, including his one-time best friend, for a handful of cash.
But on March 9, after a first-degree murder trial for three of Jason Sweeney’s killers ended with three convictions, the Sweeney parents still chose to say very little. Yet, they said enough.
Asked about the verdict outside of the Criminal Justice Center that Wednesday afternoon, Paul Sweeney told reporters, "My son got justice today. That’s all I care about."
The 16-year-old victim’s father then offered brief but profound insight into the value of young people and the privilege of nurturing them.
"It’s about time we start looking at what we’ve got," Paul Sweeney said. "People seem to forget (that) children are a gift. They are not a burden. My son was special."
His son wasn’t the only child involved in the case. The jury of eight men and four women convicted brothers Domenic and Nicholas Coia, 19 and 18, as well as Edward Batzig, 18, of first-degree murder, conspiracy, robbery and possessing an instrument of crime. Deliberations lasted less than three hours.
Because of the murder conviction, all three defendants will be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes could choose to add additional time to the life sentences based on the lesser convictions. Their formal sentencing is scheduled for May 6.
Entering the trial, the District Attorney’s office was seeking to win a death penalty sentence for the oldest defendant, Domenic Coia. But a U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving a different case on March 1 led the DA to the death penalty request.
Reversing its earlier opinion on the issue, the nation’s high court declared unconstitutional the execution of anyone for a capital offense committed when he was under 18.
A fourth conspirator in the Sweeney case, 17-year-old Justina Morley, is scheduled for a March 21 sentencing hearing. In exchange for her guilty plea to third-degree murder and related offenses, as well as her testimony during the trial, the District Attorney’s office agreed to seek a sentence of 17-1/2 to 35 years for Morley.
Though the three male defendants are all adults now, they were all juveniles at the time of the brutal May 30, 2003, slaying.
During the crime, Morley — then 15 — lured Sweeney to an overgrown industrial area along the banks of the Delaware River by promising to have sex with him, while the Coias and Batzig lay in wait.
The boys used a hatchet, hammer and concrete boulders to beat Sweeney down and bash his head repeatedly. The victim’s injuries were so severe that even veteran homicide detectives mistook him for a man in his 30s before he was identified.
The only bone in Sweeney’s head not fractured at least once during the attack was his left cheekbone. After the verdict, Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy stated to the news media some of what he argued in his closing one day earlier.
Conroy said that he did not want to offer a "deal" to Morley because she took an equal part in the crime, although she did not physically strike Sweeney. However, without independent eyewitnesses, Morley was the only one who could provide a firsthand account.
"In order to ensure that the people who were responsible for Jason’s death never walk out of a jail cell, we had to broker a deal," the prosecutor said. "She was the lesser of all evils."
Attorneys for the male defendants had argued that Morley used sex to manipulate the boys into committing the crime. After the beating, the killers took $500 from the victim’s pockets and later split the cash equally.
They used some of the money to buy drugs, according to testimony in the case. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com