Teen to stand trial in
shootings of two drug cops

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

A 17-year-old Frankford boy accused of shooting two undercover Philadelphia cops last month during a raid on a suspected crack house has been ordered to stand trial on 13 counts of attempted murder.
According to testimony at a Dec. 10 preliminary hearing, Donyea Phillips admitted to homicide investigators hours after the Nov. 13 shooting that he was the gunman.
Shots rang out at an apartment building on the 2000 block of Orthodox St. at about 6:30 p.m. as narcotics officers attempted to serve a search warrant on the property. As police tried to break through the front door with a battering ram, Phillips, then 16, allegedly pointed a gun out a window and fired repeatedly.
"I shot out the window until the gun was empty," Phillips later told investigators.
Homicide Detective James Pitts, at the request of Assistant District Attorney Namratha Ravikant, read from Phillips’ alleged statement during last week’s hearing.
Investigators identified 13 police officers who were in the line of fire, including the two wounded officers. Bullets hit one in the hip and the other in the thigh. Both are recovering from their wounds. Authorities have asked that the officers not be identified publicly because they may resume undercover work. Neither has returned to full-time duty.
Authorities claim that Phillips was a squatter in the building and sold crack there. Hours before the shooting, undercover officers allegedly bought drugs in the apartment building.
The shooting triggered a three-hour standoff in which police units, including SWAT, flocked to the scene. They closed a section of busy Torresdale Avenue and other nearby streets.
Eventually, seven occupants of the building surrendered. Phillips was one of them. The only other person arrested was the suspect’s cousin, Troy Zimmerman, 21, of the 6700 block of Woolston Ave. in West Oak Lane, on drug charges.
Authorities allegedly recovered crack, drug paraphernalia and cash from inside the building where Phillips was staying.
In addition to an attempted-murder count for each police officer who authorities claim was in the line of fire, Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield held Phillips for trial on numerous counts of assault, weapons violations and related crimes.
A trial date has not been set.
After the hearing, Phillips’ attorney, Lonny Fish, reportedly said he is seeking to have the case moved to Family Court because the defendant is a juvenile. Fish also said Phillips did not know that he was targeting cops. Ravikant said the officers identified themselves as police before the shooting began. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com