Shaurn Thomas, who was paid$ 4.1 million by the city of Philadelphia after serving 24 years in prison for a crime he said he didn’t commit, was sentenced on Friday to properly spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing a man over a$ 1, 200 medicine loan.
Common Pleas Court Judge Roxanne Covington sentenced Thomas to 33 to 66 years in prison for fatally shooting Akeem Edwards in January 2023. Thomas ‘ girlfriend at the time acted as the getaway vehicle, and in the weeks and months that followed, he threatened her, and then eventually put out a hit on her, to try and preserve her from cooperating with authorities, prosecutors said.
Thomas, 50,  , pleaded guilty , to third-degree murder, crime, see harassment, and related weapons crimes last year.
The fact that Thomas, a millionaire, would shoot one over a relatively modest amounts was extraordinary on its own, said Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope. But even more so was that he would then return to prison after spending more than half of his life there, fighting to get out, she said.
” The facts of this case are extraordinary”, Pope said. ” The city of Philadelphia paid him millions of dollars. … But he had to keep his city cred”.
Thomas ‘ lawyers, Michael Wiseman and Catherine Trama, pointed to those incredible situation — spending a third of a decade in prison after a traumatic youth — as being the driving force behind Thomas ‘ activities.
” Mr. Thomas has spent a lifetime of being a victim”, Wiseman told the judge. ” He is a broken person, and he doesn’t think like you and I”.
His youth was terrible, filled with abuse and mistreatment, said Victoria Reynolds, a injury psychologist who evaluated Thomas. His dad was in and out of prison, but physically and emotionally abused him when he was home — punching, kicking, and whipping him with an extension cable.
His family did not protect him, and his parents used medications, Reynolds said. Therefore, when he was 18, he was shot. Brain scans showed considerable damage to his frontal lobes, the region liable for a woman’s view, self-awareness, and urge control, she said.
When Thomas was 20, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1990 death of a North Philadelphia business. While in jail, Reynolds said, Thomas ‘ mental ailments worsened, as he witnessed murders and crime, and felt much desire for his upcoming while claiming he was stupid.
For decades, Thomas ‘ lawyers had worked to acquit him of that violence. Documents later emerged that prosecutors said , undercut the strength of the situation:  , Key witnesses said they were coerced and threatened by detectives, investigators withheld evidence from Thomas ‘ defense attorney at the time of his trial, and an alibi surfaced indicating Thomas was “most good” in adolescent court at the time of the shooting.
The District Attorney’s Office — then led by acting District Attorney Kelley Hodge — ultimately , agreed to vacate the conviction, saying the new information “undermine]d ] our confidence in the conviction”.
Thomas was released in 2017, just months before District Attorney Larry Krasner took office and , dramatically expanded , the office’s focus on reviewing old convictions.
Reynolds, the psychologist, said that Thomas ‘ release wasn’t easy. He was sent back to the dysfunctional family and environment that harmed him, with little resources and information on how to navigate his new life. And when he was awarded$ 4.1 million from the city, it exacerbated his PTSD symptoms — everyone knew he had money, and he felt like he had to protect it and himself.
Thomas bought a large home in Chadds Ford, and owned multiple cars and motorcycles.
” But none of that was enough”, Pope said.
Upon Thomas ‘ release, he also joined a network of other Philadelphians freed from prison after their convictions were overturned. Through those connections, he met Ketra Veasy, whose brother, Willie,  , had his murder case overturned in 2019.
Veasy and Thomas had been dating on and off for six years when, last fall, Thomas asked her to connect him with her childhood friend, Edwards, to see if he might sell some cocaine for him. Edwards agreed, and Thomas gave him the drugs. But Edwards never returned the$ 1, 200 he promised.
On Jan. 3, 2023, Thomas drove to Delaware to pick up Veasy, then drove to Philly to run errands.  , Veasy later said in court , that, before returning home, Thomas suggested they drive through North Philly and look for Edwards. They spotted him, and Thomas got out of the car.
Veasy said she didn’t know that Thomas had a gun — and that she had wished no harm to Edwards. But suddenly, she said, she heard gunshots. Thomas ran back to her car, putting his gun back into his waistband, and said:” He’s hit, he’s down, just drive”.
She did as she was told and sped away.
As they drove back to Delaware, Thomas told Veasy she better keep her mouth shut because” this is my third body, and I ain’t going back to jail”.
And he emphasized, Pope said, that he had to kill Edwards because “it was the principle”.
Pope said she believes Thomas was not actually innocent of the murder for which he was released. And she pointed to the fact that before Thomas was arrested for the 1990 killing, he was charged with a separate slaying alongside his father, for which he was found not guilty.
” Apparently, what 25 years in prison taught him to do was to keep doing the same thing”, she said.
On Friday, Edwards’ loved ones said his death has splintered their family. Sharondah King said Edwards ‘ 19-year-old daughter doesn’t leave her room for weeks at a time.
” Nothing is the same”, said his sister, Tyeshia Marshall.
And Pope said that she did not believe Thomas ‘ PTSD alone caused him to kill Edwards. The crime, she said, was calculated and carried out with precision, not driven by impulse.
The judge ultimately agreed.
” Wrongfully convicted does not mean he is rightfully innocent”, Covington said.
Then she recited a Brazilian proverb:” A snake can shed its skin, but not its nature”.
She sentenced Thomas to decades of incarceration, and ordered that he be housed in a prison focused on mental-health treatment.
Thomas ‘ loved ones in the audience sobbed. Wiseman touched his client’s shoulder, before the sheriff’s deputies stood him up.
Before being led out of the courtroom, Thomas turned briefly to his family.
” It’ll be alright”, he told them, before he was whisked away toward a familiar lifestyle.
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