A Philly man got $4 million after his murder case was overturned. He’s now accused of killing someone over $1,200.

Shaurn Thomas was a millionaire, but prosecutors say he killed a man over a $1,200 drug debt.

Thomas was paid more than $4 million three years ago after spending 24 years behind bars for a murder conviction that was later overturned.

And yet, a witness said in court Monday, he fatally shot a man on a North Philadelphia street corner earlier this year over the comparatively paltry sum.

“He said it was the principle,” Ketra Veasy, accused of being Thomas’ getaway driver in the new crime, testified through tears on the witness stand. She said Thomas confessed to the killing as she drove them both back to her house afterward.

Thomas stands accused of killing of 38-year-old Akeem Edwards, who was fatally shot on the 3500 block of Germantown Avenue on Jan. 3. On Monday, Municipal Court Judge Wendy Pew held Thomas for trial on charges of first-degree murder and related crimes.

Prosecutors also added a new charge of witness intimidation, saying Thomas sought to have Veasy killed earlier this spring because he thought she may have spoken to authorities. Veasy pleaded guilty on Friday to counts including conspiracy and aggravated assault, prosecutors said.

The news of Thomas’ arrest earlier this spring — and its connections to Veasy — stunned many in the criminal justice system. His case was overturned just months before District Attorney Larry Krasner was sworn into office and dramatically expanded the office’s focus on reviewing old convictions. And the settlement of his lawsuit came as prosecutors had begun helping to overturn dozens of other old cases, nearly all of them murders.

Many of the men who have who’ve been released from prison as a result have gone on to form friendships and stayed in touch with one another.

Veasy testified Monday that she met Thomas through that close-knit network: Both were connected to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, which helped free Thomas, and which also supported Veasy’s brother Willie, whose murder case was overturned in 2019.

A few years before her brother’s release, Veasy said, she and Thomas developed an on-again-off-again romantic relationship. Last fall, she said, when she and Thomas were seeing one another, she told him she’d bought some bad weed from her friend, Edwards. According to Veasy, that caused Thomas to ask her if Edwards might agree to sell some cocaine on his behalf.

Late last year, Veasy said, Edwards and Thomas met to discuss the deal. She said Edwards took the drugs and told Thomas he’d pay him $1,200 from the proceeds. But Edwards never paid, Veasy said, and Thomas grew impatient. He regularly asked her if she’d seen Edwards, or whether she’d heard him say anything about paying Thomas his money.

Then, on Jan. 3, Veasy said, Thomas came to her Delaware home and drove with her into Philadelphia, where she was heading to pick up a rent check. After stopping at her mother’s old house to use the bathroom, Veasy said, Thomas said they should drive through the neighborhood looking for Edwards.

Thomas spotted him on Germantown Avenue, Veasy said, then asked her to park and he got out of the car. Veasy said she didn’t know Thomas had a gun, and didn’t want Edwards to be shot; she’d been friends with him since she was 16, she said.

Video played at Monday’s hearing showed a man in a hoodie and jeans walking up and down the block for a few minutes. The man, who prosecutors say is Thomas, can then be seen shooting Edwards while concealing his hands with a pizza box.

After the crime, Veasy said, Thomas came running back into her car and said: “He’s hit, he’s down, just drive,” while moving to put his gun back in his waistband.

Veasy said she was scared, and “did what he told me to do.” She said as she drove back to Delaware with Thomas, he made a mysterious allusion to his past.

“He said it’s his third homicide and he said he can’t go back to jail,” she said.

It was not clear from the testimony what other killings Thomas may have been referring to, but Veasy said she felt intimidated by him. She followed his advice and got rid of her car and her phone. She said Thomas repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone about the crime.

“He said he knew where everybody lived,” she said. “Keep my mouth quiet or else.”

In February, as detectives were investigating Thomas’ potential role in the killing, they searched his house in Chester County and arrested him after they found a stolen gun inside. He was released on bail.

Several weeks later, in March, Veasy was arrested and charged with murder. A few days after that, Thomas was charged in the killing as well.

Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope said Monday that in between Thomas’ gun arrest in Chester County and Veasy’s apprehension for the killing, Thomas put a “hit” out on Veasy, suspecting she played a role in the raid on his house. He also later sent her letters in jail, Pope said, writing in one of them: “You make it through this and you won’t be alone.”

Veasy said she took the messages as a threat.

Veasy choked up often on the stand Monday, and at one point said she’d tried to tell Thomas she could have paid him if the $1,200 was so important to him. Still, she acknowledged that she continued seeing Thomas after the murder, and text messages displayed during the hearing showed them talking intimately the day before Veasy was arrested.

It was not immediately clear what might happen next in Veasy’s case; all of the court records connected to it were sealed Monday, and Pope said in court she had significant concerns about Veasy’s safety.

Thomas was jailed without bail to await trial. His attorney, Michael Wiseman, declined to comment after the hearing.

Edwards’ relatives, meanwhile, said they were grateful for the investigation that led to Thomas’ arrest.

Edwards’ daughter, Zynajah, said of her father: “He was a great man.”

Zynajah’s mother, Sharondah King, said: “I’m just glad that we are able to get some justice.”