Shaurn Thomas, who was exonerated and was paid a settlement of $4.1 million by the city of Philadelphia for a wrongful conviction, pleaded guilty on December 5 to another murder.
After spending 24 years in prison, Shaurn Thomas was released in 2017 after he was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder. On December 5, 2024, Shaurn Thomas pled guilty to the murder of 38-year-old Akeem Edwards for $1200 drug debt.
Events that led to Shaurn Thomas's arrest for another murder
According to The Philadephia Inquirer, Shaurn Thomas met the victim, Akeem Edwards, via his girlfriend, Ketra Veasy, with whom he had an off-on relationship for six years.
Shaurn Thomas asked her to introduce him to her friend Edwards to sell some of his drugs. Later, when they met, Thomas handed over the drugs to Edwards with the instruction that Edwards was to bring back $1200 of the proceeds to Thomas.
Edwards did not pay the money. According to The Philadephia Inquirer, on January 3, when Thomas was driving with Veasy, he went to look for Edwards. Once he spotted him, he got out of the car and reportedly shot Edwards. According to Veasy, she was not aware of the fact that Thomas had a gun or that he was going to harm Edwards.
Veasy claimed that she just heard the gunshots, and once he got in, she drove the car as he demanded and kept silent about the issue because Thomas threatened her.
According to the publication, Thomas was arrested after the Philadelphia homicide detectives in charge of Edwards's murder received information from a federal informant. He revealed that Thomas had discussed killing Edwards with him in the presence of Veasy and that he even placed a hit on Veasy in case she cooperated with the investigation.
After receiving the information, the police searched Thomas's house and found guns and the hoodie he wore during the shooting and charged him with illegal gun possession, but he got bailed out. Thomas and Veasy were arrested after data from their phone placed them at the crime scene.
Thomas pled guilty to six charges against him, including third-degree murder, on December 5. Ketra Veasy, who cooperated with the police for lesser sentencing, pleaded guilty in 2023 to aggravated assault and conspiracy. They both await sentencing.
Why was Shaurn Thomas Exonerated?
In 1992, Shaurn Thomas was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison after a jury found him guilty in connection to a 1990 murder of a North Philadelphia businessman, Domingo Martinez, who was murdered while cashing out a cheque.
According to reports, in 2017, after 24 years in prison, his conviction was overthrown after documents that resurfaced showed that the police officers involved in the case did not verify his alibi, and neither did they disclose some witness testimonies and other information.
Trending
It was also found that Thomas was charged because of unreliable testimonies from two alleged conspirators, who later recanted their testimony, and one of them even accused the police of forcing him to repeat their false story.
On his release, he filed a civil rights lawsuit against Philadephia City for his wrongful conviction, and in 2020, the city of Philadelphia agreed to pay him $4.15 million as a settlement.
Reply
