Teen to be tried as
adult in fatal beating

A Common Pleas Court judge has ordered an Overbrook teen to stand trial as an adult for the fatal beating of a Castor Gardens man last July on the sidewalk outside the victim’s home.
The defense attorney for 17-year-old Marcquis Walker-Williams argued that the accused killer should be tried as a juvenile, but Judge Benjamin Lerner rejected the appeal, citing numerous factors for trying the case in the adult court system, according to Assistant District Attorney Leon Goodman.
A status listing is scheduled for May 20. A trial would likely begin within six to eight months, if Walker-Williams opts not to plead guilty, Goodman said.
Though charged with a general count of murder and related offenses, Walker-Williams is not subject to death penalty consideration because he was a minor at the time of the crime. His 18th birthday is next month.
Walker-Williams, of the 5300 block of Gainor Road, remains in prison while awaiting trial. He allegedly beat Kwok W. Ho, 69, to death on July 10 on the 1300 block of Greeby St.
The victim was in the midst of his nightly after-dinner walk at about 7:40 p.m. when a group of teens confronted him in the sidewalk near his home. Walker-Williams allegedly grabbed Ho, placed him in a choke hold and threw him to the ground.
Police claimed that the teen was motivated by robbery.
With Ho injured and prone on the ground, the teens fled before police arrived. Ho spent a week in local hospitals and died while in intensive care on July 17.
Police arrested Walker-Williams for the crime three days later. No others were charged. ••