Shooting Captured on Video by LCSC

Abdul Walton was convicted of gunning down 19-year-old Ty Hall as he ran from a Lancaster city street fight in 2007. Judge Reinaker then sentenced Walton, 23, to life in prison without parole. A jury in December convicted Walton of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison, for killing Hall and wounding two other partygoers on South Prince Street.

Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown called the killing a "brazen and deliberate killing" that was done without provocation. On the night of the killing, a verbal dispute erupted outside the Prince Street house, but Hall wasn't directly involved in it, according to trial testimony. Witnesses recalled Walton shooting erratically, not aiming at a specific target.

Walton said he did not even know who Ty Hall was before he found out he had shot and killed him."He was no threat to me," Walton said. "It wasn't my intention for anyone to get hurt. I was trying to prevent the whole situation. It wasn't only two people (on the street) with guns, it was more than five. Reinaker told Walton he wasn't convinced that the defendant didn't know he had mortally wounded someone in the crowd.

The judge cited a "disturbing" video of the shooting, captured by a Lancaster Community Safety Coalition camera. The video shows a group scattering from gunfire. The video, which was played during the trial, shows a man pacing on the sidewalk after firing a gun."I do not understand the thinking that exists to so many young people in our community that seem to have no hesitation in pulling firearms out," Reinaker said. "I don't understand any of that."

 

Courtesy of Lancaster Newspapers, February 26, 2009