324: Eddie Polec

everybody knew your uncle. On the other, Abington Township was a leafy stretch of Montgomery County suburbia with bigger houses, cleaner streets, and schools that seemed to have more funding and more rules. To kids growing up in fox Chase, Abington might as well have been a foreign country. The joke about how you could smell the suburbs as second

you cross the city line at Cheltenham Avenue. But underneath the jokes was tension, the kind that could flare up at the back parking lot of the Willow Grove Mall, or after a Sunday night party when someone from the other side showed up uninvited. The rivalry wasn't just about territory. It was about pride, class, and reputation. Foxchase kids grew up with a certain edge. Most came from working class families where toughness was a virtue and loyalty wasn't optional.

Many had older brothers who fought the same fights, hung out at the same pizza rays and playgrounds, and down stories about brawls in the Holy Redeemer parking lot. A lot of fox Chase was considered more middle class, but compared to Abington, even these parts were seen as rougher. Kids from Abington, especially those around Rosslyn and the High School, were seen by fox Chase tains as soft, more privileged, and more sheltered. But in Abington's eyes, the Foxchase crowd

was wild, unpredictable, and always looking to prove something. It didn't take much to spark a fight. A sideways glance at a bus stop, somebody flirting with the wrong girl at a party, a shove in a skill hallway, or a rumor passed down through friends of friends. Sometimes the fights were planned somewhere impromptu, and then one winter night in ninety ninety four, something snapped. That night, a group of teenagers from Abington grammed into a car, gripping baseball

bats with numb fingers and tight jaws. Their breath fogged up the windows as they drove into fox Chase. They weren't looking to talk. They were looking for blood. Eddie Pollock was a sixteen year old senior a Cardinal Dockerty High School in fox Chase. By all coins, he was the kind of kid that every parent hoped their child would be friends with, the kind of teenager who still said please and thank you, who showed up to Sunday Mass without complaint. He had come from a family steped

in tradition. His father, John and older sister had both walked the same hallways at Dockerty. His younger brother, Billy, who was fourteen years old, had only just started as freshman year there. It was the kind of family where dinner was at the same time every night, and where sports weren't just played, they were earned. Eddie wasn't the kind of kid who coasted on natural talent. When he wanted to join the wrestling he didn't just show up.

He trained. He filled plastic grocery bags with canned goods, and then ran laps around the neighborhood a church. He was an older boy with a sharp wit and a grin that made even the grumpiest parishioners laugh. During a service project delivering fruit baskets to the elderly, Eddie dropped a full container of strawberries into the church parking lot without missing a bait. He scooped them back up, brushed them off, and then turned to the priest with a

grin and said, a little motor oil. Never heard anybody that was just Edie. Earnest, funny, and unpolished in all the right ways. He had a softness to him as well, especially when it came to animals. It wasn't uncommon for him to come home cradling a bird with a broken wing or leading a limping stray dog by the collar. He had a big heart that didn't know how to

turn away from something that was in pain. Weekends were sacred, and not just for mass If you were looking for Eddie on a Saturday afternoon, you would probably find him at Foxchase Wreck simply known as the Wreck. It was the heartbeat of the neighborhood, where local boys shot hoops, swapped stories, and tried to act a little older than they were. Eddie wasn't the best basketball player. His friends loved to tease him about that, but he didn't care.

He loved the game and just loved being there. At home games, he had a favorite spot, a large boxy seating section above the east basket called the Looney Bin. From here Eddie would shout down they guse friends on the court and hackle them withinside jokes. One friend, Sharon Donohue, put it simply, he was a nice guy, not like the other boys. He was friends with everyone, and it was true. Eddie wasn't flashy, he wasn't loud, He wasn't the kind of teenager one would expect to end up

in headlines. He was just a good kid, the kind who made people feel like they belonged, the kind who brought humor to Sunday mornings and tenderness to broken winged birds, The kind who should have had so much more time. It was Friday night, the eleventh of November nineteen ninety four in Fox Chase. That meant friend's fast food and curfews.

For Eddie Polock, it meant what it always meant, sticking close to home, hanging out at the wreck, maybe grabbing something to eat, and making it back home before eleven thirty pm. He liked to end his nights the same way. Every weekend, playing Poe with his dad in the basement, eating pizza, just the two of them. That night, Eddie was with his younger brother Billy, and a group of their friends. Their mother, Kathy, had offered to cook dinner,

but the boys had other plans. McDonald's was calling. Kathy handed each of them five dollars and dropped them off at a friend's house. From there, they made the familiar walk to the Fox Chase Wrecks Center, just across the train tracks up Rockwell Avenue. It was just a typical Friday night. After the wreck, they headed to work to McDonald's. But that night something fell off. The sound came first, tires, screeching engines, roaring headlights cutting across the parking lot like searchlights.

Then came the people. Car slammed to a stop and doors burst open. Dozens of teenagers poured out of the cars, and then dozens turned into scores. There were maybe seventy of them. They spilled into the parking lot in waves, yelling, pacing, and circling. The air crackled with something meaner and angrier. They weren't there for fries or milkshakes. They were there for a fight. They were there for blood. The feud

between fox Chase and Abington wasn't new. It had been burning for decades, passed down from one class of teenagers to the next like an ugly family heirloom. The border between the two towns wasn't just asphalt and signage. It was tribal, and sometimes that tribe turned toxic. Police Inspector John Norris put it bluntly when he said, in the old days you would have seen fistfights. There was a terf psychology the northwest. But that's all over the northeast.

Except it wasn't over, not really. The tension had been simmering and all it really needed was a spark. That spark came a weak earlier. It started with a car ride to Abington. Girls Diana and Jessica, were driving behind a car of their male friends. The boys pulled into the McDonald's parking lot across from the wreck, and the girls followed. At first, it was just to stop for food. A few minutes later, a couple of fox Chase boys

walked through the lot, flanked by the two girls. One of them locked eyes with somebody from the Abington car. What are you looking at? He said? Nothing? Man, Why don't you keep walking? Came the reply, But it didn't end there. Do you want to fight? Come on, we'll take it back to the wreck. I'll fuck you up, then I'll spit on your girl. The tone shifted. The girls who had been with the Fox Chase boys peeled away, and Diana and Jessica suddenly found themselves alone and outnumbered.

The parking lot filled in fast. Dinnah said it was like they appeared from nowhere. There were thirty kids, maybe more. She said. The boys we were with just took off. They left us there. It was chaos. Diana said that they were shoved, harassed, screamed that they were spit on. Somebody hurled soda into their car. The two girls made it back to their car and sped off. They went home to Abington and told their friends what had happened, but by the time the story made its way through

the hallways of Abington Heights, it had changed. Rumors spread that the girls had been raped. Nobody could say by who, when, or of it actually happened, but the rumor didn't need details for it to stick. By the next weekend, the boys at Abington were organizing. They start joking about renting a U haul to head into the city. They weren't

going to wait for another chance encounter. So on Friday night, November eleventh, the same night that Eddie Pollock was out with his friends, three cars left the Willow Grove Park mall loaded with boys. They weren't just coming to talk, they were armed with baseball bats. On the way, more cars joined in, one filled with girls, including Jessica and Diana. The destination wasn't random. They were heading to the place

where it all began, Fox Chase McDonald's. Eddie and a few of his friends and brother were still in the McDonald's parking lot when the Abington teenagers arrived. They stormed out of their vehicles. There were dozens of them, most wielding baseball bats. Some had bottles, some more steal too boots, some just had fists clenched tight. The screaming started, first slurs, threats, demands to fight, and then came the smashing. Car windows shattered,

tires screeched again as cars repositioned. A group of fox Chase teenagers hanging out nearby, and before they could react, the violence erupted. A melli broke out, punches, flu bats, swung, people ran. People who witnessed it said that it was like a rioth. You've probably seen a million ads for hair growth products and thought, sure, like that actually works. I did soon until I found out that Nutrifol isn't like the rest of them. Neutrafil its physician formuliated, clinically tested,

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it seemed like there were seventy of them. They kept coming. Eddie and I didn't run it first. They didn't have any reason to run. They hadn't done anything wrong. They weren't part of whatever grudge had boiled over. They were just there, caught in the middle. But the fight was everywhere now. Fox Chase teens tried to escape on foot.

Abington teens gave chase by car, swerving up straights, hopping curbs, prowling for targets, Eddie and his younger brother Billy, and their friend Sean decided to get out of there and walk home. They got through the parking lot of Saint Cecelia's Church. It was a familiar place, quiet and usually safe, but not tonight. As they crossed the lot, five cars pulled in behind them. In formation slung open, and teenage boys poured out, brandishing baseball bats. They turned on Eddie

and his friends. They took off on foot, but Eddie was at the back. One bat swung hard towards his head. He arched his back and narrowly dodged it, but then Eddie's foot caught on something and he tripped over. He hit the ground hard. Within seconds, they were on him. Eddie was punched and kicked from every angle. He tried to shield himself, curling in to himself, but it didn't matter. They struck him with bats again and again. Some of them wore steel toad boots and used them. Sharon Donahue

saw it all happen. She knew Edie. They'd worked near each other at the Huntington Valley shopping center. Eddie cooked at Boston Chicken with her uncle. Sharen worked part time at Woolworth's. She and her friend Terry had been hanging out when they heard the yelling, then the screaming. Then they saw the crowd. Sharon started shouting, pleading, begging them to stop. She watched on in horror as Eddie was lifted by his arms and legs and swung back and

forth like a rag doll. He was then held up in place as bats connected with his head and torso they dropped him to the ground, but they kept going. The sound was horrific. The crack of the bat on Eddie's bones then came the silence. The attackers fled, rushing back to their cars and speeding off into the night. Sharon ran to Eddie's side. She dropped her knees and cradled his head in her lap. His face was covered in blood. One eye was shut and the other was

rolling uncontrollably. He wasn't speaking, he wasn't moving, but he was still breathing. Sharon recalled, he was breathing kind of weird, but I thought he was going to be all right. That's what I kept telling him, It's going to be all right. She screamed for help, for someone, anyone to call nine one one She then ran to a payphone and called police herself. Others had already called as well,

they're pack kase, they're really noisy inside the MacDonald's. In the party, residents had come out of their homes to see what the noise was. Some of them were already on the phone with emergency services. People in McDonald's had already called as well. I have a busy and I deserved one of my customers windows, but nobody came. Five minutes past ten fifteen, still nothing. It would be forty minutes before help arrived. By then, Eddie's breaths were thin.

He was fading fast. Parmedics loaded him into an ambulance, and their sirens broke the night. They sped towards Albert Einstein Medical Center, but by then it was already too late. Eddie died the next morning. He was just sixteen years old. At the Medical Examiner's office, doctor ain Hood conducted the autopsy. What he found was horrifying. Eddie had been struck in the head at least eight times with a baseball bat. His skull had been crushed so badly that doctor had

compared it to a dropped eggshell. There were half inch gaps in the cranium. Defensive wounds showed that Eddie had tried desperately to protect himself. The first blow had likely stunned him. After that, he never stood a chance. Within ours of Eddie Pollock's death, grief spilled into the streets of fox Chase outside Saint Cecelia's Church, and makeshift memorial began to grow. People left on floors, photographs, candles, handwritten letters.

The pavement was still stained with Eddie's blood. Somebody had placed a small sign directly over the dried red streaks, which read I believe in peace Long Crest. Even students from having Toton High School brought a bouquet. The boundaries that once divided the two neighborhoods, fox Chase and Abington suddenly seemed relevant. For decades, kids on both sides had traded punches, insults, and territorial pride, but nothing like this,

nothing that ended in a body on the church steps. Now, the talk of rivalry was everywhere, but to those who knew Edree, it didn't fit. He wasn't one of those kids. His friend Sean said it best, It just hurts too much and was never going to make sense. Eddie was the most innocent guy you had ever meet. It shouldn't have been him. The people who did it to him, they were cowards. In the days that followed, Eddie's friends, especially the ones who had been with him that night,

were left traumatized. They had to undergo counseling and some of them struggled to sleep. And then there was the threat of revenge. Whispers ran through Fox Chase. Detectives knew the risk. They quickly put a plan in place to prevent any retaliatory violence or vandalism. Extra patrols were stationed on street corners. Clergy and social workers were called in

to talk with families. Time watch groups mobilized. Every effort was made to keep the streets clam Even Pizza Hut joined in their marquee, which was visible from the avenue, read in bold block letters, please stop the violence. At midnight curfew was even implemented, and police made it clear

the fighting had to end. Inspector John Norris stood before the press and addressed the city directly when he said, were urging all the parents to talk to their children and know where they are this weekend and other weekends. The message was urgent, almost pleading, and at the center of it all was Edrie's family. Graving in public under the weight of unbearable loss. They issued a statement not for justice, not for revenge, but for peace. They asked

that no more blood be spilled in Eddie's name. Many of the teenagers promised to honor that way, Some meant that, some weren't so sure. One teenager said, if it weren't for his family, those Abington kids would be dead. They want blood. Another then added, I wouldn't have any problem if one of those kids got killed. It didn't take long for arrest to be made. The teenagers had taken part in the savage baiting of Eddie Pollock weren't exactly

lying low. By the next morning, they were bragging about what they'd done. Some are on town, other to friends laughing about it. Eighteen year old Thomas Krook was the first to be arrested. He confessed outright to being involved, but he was quick to insist we didn't go down there to kill anybody. Krook admitted to swinging a baseball bat at Edie, but claimed he never struck him in the head. He said he just got caught up in the excitement. Krook lived in a townhouse complex with his

mother and younger siblings. He dropped out of Upper Moorland High School and had a history of minor run ins with the law. Later that same day, police arrested sixteen year old Nicholas Pinero and seventeen year old Bou Kathavong. Kathovong's family had fled warren torn Laos in nineteen eighty escaping the threat of communist execution. The family had lived in a refugee camp in Thailand before finally immigrating to the United States in search of a better life. Now

their teenage son was being charged with murder. All three boys were charged with murder, aggravated assault, and weapons offenses. One of their defense attorneys tried to put the crime into context, as he said, this is not a typical street crime. Something happens in the space of a few seconds, and a whole slew of lives are changed irrevocably. That may have been true, but de EDI's family and friends

it was no excuse. On the sixteenth of November, almost three thousand people packed into Saint Cecilia's Church for Eddie's funeral. The same church were just days earlier, he'd been beaten to death on the pavement the same church where he had once served as an altar boy. His high school classmates were brought in by bus. Abuse filled quickly, and by ten a m. It was standing room only outside.

A broad metal casket arrived through the drizzle. Inside, Reverend James Olsen stood at the altar and tried to find the words. He told the mourners he was one of the good guys, a real good person, a gentle person. The priest remembered Eddie as a boy who couldn't sit quite still during mass. His legs were too short to touch the ground, so he'd swing them back and forth the entire time. It was a memory that made people smile,

but it didn't last long. Olson then pleaded with the community, don't let this death lead to more violence, don't let it fuel revenge. After the service, a possession of more than one hundred cars followed Eddie's hearse to Our Lady Grace Cemetery and Langhorn. The rain came down harder as the casket was lowered into the ground. His mother sobbed. His friend stepped forward one by one, placing single floors

on top of the coffin. Then came the fallout. In the days after Eddie's funeral, outrage spread not just at the brutality of the murder, but at something else, the emergency response that failed to come in time. It was revealed that on the night that Eddie was killed, police didn't arrive for forty minutes. After the first nine one one call, people began asking would Eddie still be alive if help had come sooner. At ten ten p m. A waitress at the Pizza Hut on Oxford Avenue had

called nine one one. She saw teenagers piling out from cars baseball bats in hand. They were chasing someone, but she didn't know who. She called again and again they have a gun away fifty's young kids with face to see each other. More calls followed, What are they doing bossing up the cars? Windows? There were they? One from a man who tried to hold the phone out the doors of the operator could hear the commotion he was

hung up on. Others described gangs of teenagers rampaging through the neighborhood, smashing car windows, chasing others and beating people with baseball bats. I don't believe it. It's wrang about ten times. There's a big emotion going outside in front of our home, like a gang. One caller told the dispatcher of boys being beaten in the church parking lot gang. If you get that, yeah, herd outside of the fight right, well, that it and the point. Wait a minute, Wait a minute,

wait a minute, you asked me. I'm asking you. I have the information. You can hang up now, the operator replied, was that it? The calls just kept floating in. We've been polling everybody. Murder has been falling there and we got in there riot and no damn police where they were becoming more desperate. When he is gonna send somebody who's got a fat sirs, he's gotta stop some girl. What's a honey moon? Wait a minute, wait a minute's

costing me like that? I asked you a questions, got a friend if he laughed for white on his hands. One office, Sharon Donahue, who held Atty's bloody head in her lap as he struggled to Breathe had called nine one one as well. She was frown thic screaming begging for help. The operator snapped back, listen, if you don't come though, he gets no help. Do you understand that much sleep? He's a hospital, he's sleeping. Where's he? The thing's please? I can't understand you give me an address this?

Where's that at? When I thrived him, Hosford was who guys, listen, listen. If you don't calm down, he gets so help. You got to say that, but I'm crying. In total, there were thirty three calls made to nine to one one that night, but no one at the police radio room seemed to realize they were all related. The first officers weren't dispatched until ten forty one pm. A patrol cars in a wagon arrived two minutes later. An officer then radioed in, he's going in and out of consciousness. Need

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wasn't just the delay, it was the system itself. In the past, a person calling the police would speak to an actual dispatcher, often a police officer, somebody who could hear the fear in their voice and then judge the urgencies. He stated. In those days, response time was two minutes or less, but now ninety eight percent of the radio room staff were civilians, many of them pearly trained. Call takers didn't make dispatched decisions. They simply typed what the

caller said into a computer screen. A separate dispatcher decided whether or not to send the car. On that night, the incident unfolding across Fox Chase was marked as low priority. Mary Sante, president of the Taconi Town Watch, said nine one one was a state of the art blooper. Her group had kept logs on many nights. They tracked forty five to one hundred and fifteen pending calls after eleven p m. So I'm going back to five p m. She' said. One major flaw was that the call takers

didn't even consider baseball bats to be weapons. When the nine one one tapes were finally reviewed, the public was horrified. Police Commissioner Richard Neale announced an internal investigation. Mayor ed Randall's chief of staff, David Cohen, promised changes. He stated, this incident was not handled properly. There will have to be disciplinary actions and there will be reforms made to

the system. When you listen to the tapes, it's very clear that some dispatchers behaved in a very inappropriate manner. They were rude, and they didn't respond in a way we should expect any municipal employees to respond to the public, let alone a nine one one operator. What happened to

Eddie Pollock wasn't just a tragedy. It was a systemic failure, from the gang violence to the late response to the dismissed voices on the other end of a desperate phone call, and now the city of Philadelphia left to reckon with it all. The failures of the nine one one system weren't the only aspect of the case drawing scrutiny. Attention soon turned to the teenage girl at the center of the original altercation, the fight outside the McDonald's that had

sparked everything. Her name was Jessica. After Eddie was murdered, Jessica sat down with an interview at her family home with her parents and reporters present. She answered some questions but refused others. When asked whether she had talked in Abington about the altercation she had at McDonald's, she didn't deny. She stated anyone would go back and tell their friends who wouldn't, But then she added something more serious. Me

and my friends didn't say anything about getting raped. Jessica believed that it was the rape rumor that brought out the people looking to fight, that it had given them an excuse. She described the knight that Eddie was killed, she and her friends had driven down to Fox Chase. She said they pulled into the McDonald's parking lot, but before they even got out, somebody threw rocks at their car, so they left. Thank all, we left and didn't stay,

she said. Our friend Diana echoed this sentiment. I feel bad for his family, for his mom and dad. I feel bad for my friends too, for the whole situation, she said. At that stage in the investigation, Homicide Captain John Ablton made it clear what we're doing is checking all of the facts. We will determine who is responsible beside the three we have already arrested. That determination came quickly. Three more teenagers were then arrested, seventeen year olds Dwan Alexander,

Anthony Rienzi, and Kevin Convey. Alexander was attending Leakside Youth Services, a school for students expelled from other schools. Convey lived in Meadowbanks, a wealthy neighborhood, hardly the place you'd expect to find attain at the center of a fatal gang baiting. By now, detectives believe they had the full picture. Bou Kathafong had orchestrated the entire thing. He had organized the five car loads of teenagers that descended on Fox Chase

that night. Kevin Convey had been the first to strike Eddie with a baseball bat, then Thomas Crook swung his Nicholas Ponero hit Eddie six more times. From the front, Kathavong punched and kicked Edie, while Dewan Alexander kicked him in the head with steel toed boots, and when Eddie had crumpled to the ground, barely conscious and bleeding, Anthony Rienzi dragged him up just so the others could get another clean shot at him. Police source later commented, they're

problem kids. They've been busted numerous times, fights, marijuana, underage drinking problems. They're involved in a lot of assaults. At the same time, accountability was fine being addressed within the nine one one center. Seven operators were disciplined, three were suspended with the intent to dismiss, three others were suspended and transferred. One was referred to a disciplinary board. Mayor ed Randall stated, they're being suspended for abusive and rude

responses to callers. That is unacceptable. Reforms were then introduced. The city hired more nine one one workers and launched sensitivity training. A new alarm system was installed in the radio room to alert supervisors when four or more calls came from the same location. The number of shift supervisors was doubled, but for Eddie's family, none of that mattered much anymore. Days after the reforms were announced, police arrested nineteen year old Carlos Johnson, the man who had supplied

the baseball bats used in the murder. At the preliminary hearing, the judge ruled that all seven teenagers would stand trial for murder. Those accused of wielding the baths. Pinero, Rihensay, and Crook were held directly responsible for the fatal Blues prosecutor Joseph Casey announced, I've never seen a skull so fractured. I've never seen a skull where the brain expanded and literally opened those fractures into crevices. In the year following

Eddie's murderer, the community rallied behind his family. Friends noticed a change in his mother, Kathy. Her eyes, they said, were different now. Matt MacDonald, one of Eddie's classmates, observed, she has a sadness in her eyes. Now there's a spark that's gone. Kathy eventually returned to work as a skull crossing guard. It kept her near children. She always carried a pocket full of candy, taffy and lollipops to hand out. She needed to stay close to something good.

But she and Eddie's fa John never stopped asking why we wonder if we understood the teachings of Catholicism right? Kathy added, quietly, No way God would have meant for this to happen. John struggled to reconcile the violence with the world. He thought he knew they had every right to see over the nine one one failure, but they chose not to. John explained what everyone hears about is a bunch of rude call takers. It wasn't the nine

one one people. The whole system could not get the phone calls to the cars on the streets that night. They didn't want money, and they didn't want a settlement. They just wanted justice for their son. On the one year anniversary of Eddie's murder, hundreds of people returned to Saint Cethelia's church. A memorial mass was held, followed by

a candlelight vigil on the church steps. The crowd was solemn and reflect them, and as they gathered, people began to whisper amongst themselves about the upcoming murder trial and whether justice would truly be served. The jury selection began on the second of January nineteen ninety six. The seven defendants were to stand trial together. However, Kevin Convey never showed up in court. He accepted a play agreement and pleaded guilty to third degree murderer, which carried a sentence

of five to twenty years in prison. Convey admitted that he had landed the first blow on Airey that sent him falling to the ground. As part of his deal, he agreed to testify against his friends, friends who are now facing life in prison if convicted. By the sixth of January, a jury was selected, six African Americans, one white juror, and one Hispanic. The trial was ready to begin.

The central question was whether the six youths had the premeditated intent to kill, a requirement for first degree murder. The defendants were escorted into court. They looked like college students, dressed in sweaters, slacks, and collared shirts, a far cry from the night they beat Eddie to death with baseball bats. During opening statements, defense attorney Charles Perudo tried to portray

Eddie as the instigator. He described him as a beer drinking tuff who sold beer to his friends from a keg. He stated, Eddie sold his beer the kids gathered, the spirit was mobbing. It was kind of like a pregame rally. Another defense attorney, Michael Applebaum, went further. He claimed that Eddie was part of the Fox Chase mob that provoked the massive brawl. He stated, mister Pollock belonged to a group of youths who turned up anyone who crossed their turf.

Prosecutor Joseph Casey refuted these claims, calling them an accurate at best. Eddie's father, John added that his son had been working the night of the McDonald's altercation involving the two girls. I think mister Applebaum has ed mistaken for someone else, he said. When Kevin Convey pleaded guilty, he admitted that Eddie wasn't involved in any of the prior clashes between the Abington and fox Chase groups. The defense's

arguments that Eddie wasn't innocent didn't hold up. It was revealed that some defendants faced other charges from that same night. Carlos Johnson was charged with slamming Richard Stubart at the ground and smashing a bottle over his head. Pinero and Alexander were charged with bating John Atkinson in the head with baseball bats. These attacks happened in the moments before Eddie was killed. The prosecutor then laid out the sequence

of events. Convie struck Eddie first, knocking him down. He then hit him in the legs and fate before the others joined in. Ransay struck Eddie in the head, crushing the right side of his skull. Krook hit him three more times on the shoulder. Then Riansy lifted Eddie up by his shoulders and held him why. Pinero struck him again and again with the baseball bat. Alexander kicked him at least twice with the steel toed boot. Cathavong stood

nearby and cheered. Doctor Lucy rowan specialist, said that the beating caused such extreme swelling in Eddie's brain that it cut off blood flowed to his heart and lungs. Photographs of Eddie's brain were then shown in court. His mother, Kathy Leader, said, I'm glad they showed the pictures. The jury has to see that, and the families of the kids that did that have to see it too. Teenagers

then testified about the earlier incident at McDonald's. William Owner admitted to being part of the Fox Chase group that harassed Jessica and Diana confirmed that Eddie wasn't there. Other teenagers then described the attack. Terence Nurse, a member of the Abington group, said he was chasing someone else when his friends attacked Debbie. He told the court what he saw matched what the prosecution said and what convey said. Defense attorney Perudo suggested that Terrence was only spared because

he agreed to testify. Terrence responded, I know what I saw. Thomas Ruth testified that he was with friends at a convenience when the Abington group pulled up. He said it was clear that Cathafung was the leader and he heard him yell, come on, let's go. I'm so sagged I could kill somebody. The defense attorneys were aggressive in their cross examinations. John Pollock, during a corporate commented, the Fox Chase kids were doing nothing different that night than kids

in Fox Chase have done for thirty years. If that's justification for them to murder him the way they did, then there's something really screwed up with the justice system. The other victims testified as well. John Atkinson had been struck in the head at least ten times with the bat. Fourteen months later, he still coldn't remember much. Prosecutors used this Orgie that Eddie's death wasn't an isolated act. These boys had come out looking for blood. Matthew Malone testified

that he witnessed John's attack. He had managed to drag him to safety. He also saw Johnson grab Richard Stuber, slam him to the ground, and hit him with a bottle. The courtroom then fell silent as the prosecution's key witness took to the stand, Kevin Convey. He recalled the last moments of Eddie's life. I heard the boys say I didn't do anything. He was kind of screaming and crying, he said. Kathy Polock broke down sobbing in the front row.

In a surprise move, Convey named five other youths who were involved in the fatal beating, Jason Maskewn, Jeffrey and Jason Lang, kem Ones, and Ed Rodgers. He said that they punched and kicked Errey before the bats came out. He also said he saw Krook take the bat and hit Edie several times, but Convey said he didn't see Alexander Kathavong or Johnson near Edie during the attack. Their defense attorneys clung to this, arguing that they were elsewhere

fighting other kids behind the church. In the second week of the trial, two teenage girls, Michelle Betone and Teresa Welsh, testified that it was Convey who may have delivered the fatal blows. They said the first hit struck Eddie on the head, and the attacker kept hitting until it was over. They were referring to Convey as the trial drew to a close. The defense struck to their arguments their clients didn't kill Ede. They pointed the finger back at Kevin Comvey.

In his closing arguments, Prosecutor Casey rejected this narrative as the big lie. He said that each of them were guilty of first degree murder. He stated Eddie Polock was on the ground pleading for his life when Nicholas Ponero raised the bat over his head and snapped it. One person by himself wouldn't have gone down to fox Chase and done that, but together they did, so they are all liable if they had shared the intent to kill. The jury went into the liberation and they returned with

a verdict. Nicholas Ponero, Anthony Rienz, and Thomas Crook were found guilty of third degree murder. Dewan Alexander was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Carlos Johnson and Buchathavong were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. Some jurors felt that the prosecution hadn't proven the team set out to kill that night. Others believed that at least two of the defendants should have been acquitted, and some thought first degree

murder was warranted. They struck a compromise. Juror Lynn Pester, Leader said you had to eat crow for everyone to receive some sentence. We had to agree to something. It came down to raise an and compromise, and nobody came out a winner. Not the jurors, not the defendants, not the district attorney, and definitely not the Pollocks. All the defendants were given a second chance at life. Eddie's brother Billy, said that his brother might have wanted it that way.

He said, my brother was the most forgiving person you'll ever want to meet, and I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't have a hand in this. Kevin Convey was sentenced first, and victim impact statements were presented. Eddie's father, John stood before the court room and addressed him directly, your actions that night allowed my son to die. I can never forgive you for that. Eddie's mother, Cathy followed.

Her voice was steady, but her pain was evident, as she said, I wish I could say you've done the honorable thing, but human nature being what it is, I believe you had a need to survive. I believe everyone has some decency in them. But I also believe the need to survive is stronger. Then came Eddie's brother, Billy. He spoke about the mornings why each one started with the same aching thought. What could he have done differently? What could he have done to change what happened that night.

He called Eddie a great friend and said the men responsible had stripped him of that. Convey's defense attorney told the court that his class and it was remorseful that nothing could bring back Erie. The convey planned on writing a letter to Edie's family. Then the judge handed down the sentence twenty years in prison. The following month, it was the rest of the defendants who faced sentencing. John once again stood and spoke, all six of you slaughtered

my son. You took an innocent and real happy, go lucky kid and bade his brains to a bloody pulp. Don't stand up and turn around and look at me or Kathy or Kirsty and Bill. We've heard you deny this for months. If you're going to say you're sorry, don't bother. Only two of them did, but Kathavong stood and said, I'd just like to say to the polic family, I'm sorry for my involvement in this whole incident. Thomas

Crook said, I want to say I'm sorry. I hope my wrongdoings and my punishment will somehow help the next generation see what's right and what's wrong. Then came the sentences. Anthony Rienzi was sentenced to fifteen to thirty years, Thomas Krook was sentenced to fourteen and a half to thirty years. Nicholas Panero received ten to twenty years. Duan Alexander was sentenced to eight to twenty years. Carlus Johnson and Bukathovong both received five to ten years. All of the killers

have since been released. Dwan Alexander served nine years in prison, Kevin Convey served seven years in prison, Carlus Johnson served six years in prison, Boukathavong served ten years in prison. Thomas Krook, Nick Panero, and Anthony Riense served fifteen years in prison. In the wake of Eddie's murder, his father John made a promise to himself that Eddie's death wouldn't be for nothing. He began speaking to students at schools and community events, urging them to think carefully about the

decisions they make and who they followed. He said to them, my son didn't think anything would happen to him. Maybe one kid sitting there has to make a choice in the future. He never charged schools of fee. All he asked was a contribution to the Lost Dreams Living Hope's Program, an organization that created portraits of victims of fatal violence. John also tried to push for legeddice of change in Pennsylvania.

He wanted the definition of first degree murder changed so that a case like Eires could never again result in what he saw as partial justice. That effort failed, but John wasn't done. He studied nine one one dispatch records, looking for every misstep that could have contributed to the delay that night. When the city failed to act on his findings, he threatened to soothe them, and he had every right to, and in the end he forced change. Training for nine one one dispatchers was overhauled with a

focus on stress management and better crisis response. Technology was upgraded, including new mapping systems, better software, and computers inside patrol cars. Supervision and oversight were improved across the board. City officials finally admitted what everybody already knew. John Paulick had been

the driving force behind all of it. Through unimaginable loss, he had become a fierce advocate, not just for his own son, but for every son and daughter whose cries for help might one day depend on the speed and strength of the system. Eddie's life was stolen in a senseless act of violence, but in his memory, his father built something that would outlast the pain, something that might

say of someone else's child. And in doing so, John kept a part of Eddie alive through change, through purpose, and through the unwavering love of a father who refused to let his son be forgotten. Well that is it for this episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so much for listening, and i'd like to say a massive thank you to my new supporters up on Patreon, Clara, Heather and Samantha. The link to Patreon is in the

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