October 3rd 2023.
In August 2021, tragedy struck the Sharon Hill Borough of Pennsylvania as Fanta Bility, an eight-year-old girl, was killed by police officers during a dispute at a high school football game. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the borough has agreed to an $11 million settlement with the Bility family and other victims of the incident.
Fanta Bility was hit in the back by a bullet fired at a moving car by police officers searching for two teenage suspects. In addition to Fanta, three other bystanders, including her 12-year-old sister, were wounded in the shooting. The officers involved, Brian Devaney, Sean Dolan, and Devon Smith, were all fired from their positions and placed on probation in May 2023. They also pled guilty to charges of reckless endangerment after striking a deal to reduce their manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter indictments.
The Bility's spokesperson, Siddiq Kamara, stated, “There is no amount of money that will ever bring Fanta back or erase the memory of the horrible tragedy that occurred on August 27, 2021, from our minds.” He further added, “However, with the criminal and civil cases now resolved, we hope to move on and focus specifically on the Fanta Bility Foundation and keeping Fanta’s legacy alive.” The foundation was established in January 2023, in honor of what would have been Fanta's tenth birthday, as a way of ensuring she is never forgotten.
The settlement will be distributed to the Bility family as well as eight other victims. Two of these victims were women who were in the car that police mistook as the getaway vehicle. The borough has also created plans to better train their officers to avoid a similar tragedy.
“In moving forward, we will continue to mourn with and extend our deepest sympathies to the Bility family,” a statement from Sharon Hill read. “We will also continue to raise the bar by remaining committed to improving and implementing policies to protect against this type of tragedy and working diligently to ensure the safety of Sharon Hill residents while restoring public confidence and trust.”
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