From 1999: Two convicted in shooting death outside Palestra

This story was originally published on February 9, 1999

Nearly a year after a shoot-out outside the Palestra at the end of a high school basketball game killed one man and wounded three other people, a Common Pleas Court jury yesterday convicted two South Philadelphia men of murder and other charges.

The jury found Kyle McLemore and Nathaniel Ortiz, both 21, guilty of third-degree murder in the killing of Anthony “Tupac’' Davis, 22, who was shot March 1 when a gun battle broke out near the University of Pennsylvania as 4,000 spectators streamed out of the Public League boys’ basketball championship.

McLemore and Ortiz, who face up to 50 to 100 years when sentenced next month, also were convicted of three counts of aggravated assault and conspiracy in wounding three bystanders, including a Penn senior who had been working in a nearby campus workshop. A bullet penetrated the wall, striking the student in the leg as he worked on an architecture project.

Murmurs were heard from the moment the first guilty verdicts were announced. McLemore’s mother, Joanne Miller, and Ortiz’ girlfriend, Latanya Richards, began to quietly cry.

The defendants faced the jury, betraying no emotion. Afterward, McLemore whispered to his parents: “Don’t worry about it”

Latisha Feribee, 22, who had been walking to a subway after the city basketball game when a stray bullet ripped into her elbow, sat during the verdict with Iona Davis, the dead man’s mother. Both women declined to comment as they left the courtroom.

The weeklong trial attracted dozens of friends of the defendants and the deceased victim, Davis. Angry words and a fistfight erupted Friday outside the courtroom between the two groups, which were separated by sheriff’s deputies.

Yesterday, only family members were allowed in the 10th-floor courtroom, and other spectators were ordered to stay in the first-floor lobby of the Justice Center across from City Hall. Eight deputies stood guard in the courtroom and eight more in the hallway outside, and additional deputies were in the lobby. No trouble was reported.

Assistant District Attorney Jude Conroy, who had sought first-degree-murder convictions and the death penalty for both defendants, said afterward that he was pleased with the verdicts.

Conroy said the jury may have decided on third-degree murder, instead of first-degree, because Davis had a 9mm gun under his body when he died, and the victim had fired one or two shots before his gun jammed and he was killed.

“These were two violent groups on both sides,’’ Conroy said. “I think the jury was appalled by the violence that occurred out there on what should have been a very happy day for two groups of young men and women who competed in the Public League championships. These two guys, two violent groups on both sides, stole the joy from these kids who were out there to play ball that day"

Defense attorneys said they also were pleased and relieved by the verdicts.

A. Charles Peruto Jr., who represented McLemore, said, "Whenever your client escapes not only the death penalty but also first-degree murder with this much evidence, you have to be pleased"

"I don’t think the jury liked that this was a drug shoot-out, that the victim had a gun on him and he actually fired his weapon,’’ Peruto said. "There was no evidence of who fired first, so I think that was troubling"

Ortiz’s attorney, Fortunato N. Perri Jr., said the government’s "motive evidence was overwhelming’' that McLemore and Ortiz were out to hurt Davis. "Apparently, the jury saw it as a payback for a shooting that happened the week before in front of Ortiz’s home"

The defendants, who did not testify, conceded through their attorneys that they got into a fistfight with Davis inside the Palestra, but maintained that they did not have guns or fire any shots.

Conroy said the shooting was the climax of a feud between rival groups from North and South Philadelphia. McLemore, Ortiz and others went to the Palestra seeking revenge for a drive-by shooting the week before that wounded a 14-year-old girl in South Philadelphia, the prosecutor said.

Judge John J. Poserina Jr. scheduled sentencing for March 30.

This story was originally published on February 9, 1999