Who done it?

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

The evening of Saturday, Nov. 10, started out rather routine for Chris McNerney.
The young man from Lower Mayfair joined a few friends at a buddy’s house to watch movies, then fell asleep.
At about 2 a.m., he left out the back door of friend Mike Young’s house on the 3100 block of Stirling St. for the short walk to his own house on the 2900 block of McKinley St.
McNerney crossed Hawthorne Street and saw four young males walking down the steps of Lower Mayfair Playground. He and the foursome were about to cross paths when one of the males sucker-punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
All four thugs began punching and kicking McNerney, bloodying him, breaking his nose and giving him two black eyes and a swollen face. They also stabbed him nine times in the chest, arms, hip, back, stomach and side and stole his cell phone and wallet.
The weapon, he believes, might have been a pocketknife, since the wounds were not that deep.
The attack, he estimates, lasted up to 10 to 15 minutes.
The victim fought off his attackers’ attempts to stab him in the neck, and believes the bulky jacket he was wearing that night helped save him from further injury. He also thanks a neighborhood woman for hollering at the group to stop the beating.
McNerney ran back to the Young household, where the family assisted him and called the police. A neighbor followed the hoodlums in his car, but lost them as they headed toward the area of Frankford and Cottman avenues.
A rescue squad took McNerney to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale, where he was treated and released from the emergency room.
"I’m happy to be alive," he said. "They wanted me dead."
Georgiann McNerney rushed to the hospital after one of her son’s friends called her.
"I was just glad he was alive," she said. "I’m glad they didn’t have a gun."
McNerney, who turned 22 four days after the assault, was interviewed at the hospital by Northeast Detectives. He said his attackers were Hispanic or white, ages 16 to 20.
As the beating ended, McNerney stood up and got a pretty good look at one of the males. He described him as about 17 years old, short in stature, with a round baby face and trimmed dark brown hair. He wore a white hooded sweatshirt.
"I have a feeling they live around here," McNerney said.
The hoods did not make any outgoing calls on the cell phone, but did answer when McNerney’s friends called. They gave an alias when asked their names.
The stolen wallet was found on a lawn on Stirling Street, with the $38 in cash missing, but credit cards and everything else still inside.
"They probably wanted the money for drugs," McNerney said.
The victim, who attended St. Timothy Elementary School and Father Judge High School, said young people often congregate inside the playground, which is connected to Ethan Allen Elementary School, late at night.
The attack was brazen, since the 2nd and 15th Police District headquarters is nearby.
McNerney, whose family moved out of Olney 14 years ago because the neighborhood was declining, had never experienced a problem before. But since the confrontation, he has changed his habits late at night.
"I don’t go out alone," he said.
On Nov. 21, McNerney was cleared to return to his job in Folcroft, Delaware County. He’s a mechanic who works on air pumps and compressors.
Now that he’s on his way to a complete recovery, he wants justice for his attackers.
"I want them caught," he said. "I don’t want them on the streets. I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else." ••
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153.
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com