Teen To Stand Trial In Bicyclist Shooting
(AP) PHILADELPHIA An 18-year-old man who fatally shot a 14-year-old bicyclist who wouldn't get out of his way was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on homicide and weapons charges....
Law was bicycling with friends on July 14 when a car driven by Meyers pulled up behind them on the narrow South Philadelphia street and began honking for them to get out of the way, police said.
Four of the five bicyclists obliged. Law, however, got off his bike and walked around to the passenger side of the stopped car, and he and Meyers argued briefly, according to police. The boy was killed with a single bullet to the chest that passed through his lungs and heart, according to a coroner's report.
Officer Joseph Acavino, who was in uniform but in his own car on his way to work, was behind Meyers' car when the shooting occurred. He testified that as Meyers' car inched up to where Law stood on the side of the road, he saw the driver's arm extend toward the rolled-down passenger side window and he heard a gunshot.
"Tykeem Law, with both hands, grabbed his upper chest area. He looked at his chest and looked at the car," Acavino said. "He looked to his right and to his left, then he went back on his heels and fell backward."
The car sped off before running a stop sign and being broadsided by another car about a block away. Police said they found a loaded .22-caliber revolver on the ground next to the driver's side door. Meyers' two passengers were questioned and released.
Both testified at Wednesday's hearing that Law reached toward his waistband during the altercation and they thought he might have a weapon. He was unarmed, police said.
John Sabalauskas, whom Meyers was driving to the hospital for neck pain, said he was looking out of the front passenger window as the car passed Law when there was a "big bang on the left side of my face" that made his ears ring.
"I said, 'Chuckie, I want out of the car. I want out of the car,"' he testified. "He didn't stop. ... We blew through the stop sign and we got hit."
Jason Squillace, who was in the rear seat, testified that Law had raised his arms in the air in a gesture that indicated he wasn't ready to end the altercation.
"When you put your hands in the air, and it's like 'What's up,' that means you want to fight," said Squillace, who testified that he and Meyers were "like family."
Acavino, the police officer, said Law's arms were raised in a non-threatening, shrugging gesture with his palms turned up.
Prosecutor Gonen Haklay said he doesn't believe Meyers killed Law because he feared for his safety or out of racial animus. Law was black; Meyers is white.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Haklay said when asked about a possible motive. "Charles Meyers decided that this 14-year-old should be killed, so he just turned and fired."
Law has been described as a well-mannered boy who had just finished seventh grade and was a member of his school's basketball team.
His mother, Shauta McDuffie, said that her son wasn't the type to act menacing.
"Tykeem wasn't like that at all," McDuffie said outside court.
"He was a good boy. He was special. He didn't deserve this."
Meyers' arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 4.
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