Youth guilty of murdering Alimohamed

Common Pleas Judge Sheldon Jelin found Khaalis Edmonson, 17, guilty of murder in the second degree on Monday in connection with the murder of fifth-year Mathematics graduate student Al-Moez Alimohamed. Edmonson, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was tried as a juvenile. The other four men accused in the murder case will face trial as adults on January 8. Alimohamed was murdered last year after being kicked and beaten to the ground by five males, according to Philadelphia Police officer Francis Welsh. Alimohamed was walking home alone to his apartment at 48th and Pine streets at the time. After the assault, all five men crossed the street and appeared to be speaking to each other, Welsh said. Then two of the men returned to where Alimohamed was laying on the ground and robbed him, Welsh added. Welsh, who was driving east on Walnut Street in an unmarked police car at the time of the incident, said he heard a gunshot. He then noticed that one of the suspects placed a rifle in his pants and both men began to run. Police said Edmonson was not involved in the actual murder. Both Welsh and Philadelphia police officer Mark Uffleman, who were in the car together at the time, apprehended four of the men within minutes of the incident. The fifth man later surrendered himself to authorities, Uffleman said. Both Welsh and Uffleman said they had been following the men for eight blocks. Welsh added that the police vehicle was moving at eight to 10 miles per hour. And Welsh said he saw the men beating and punching something on the ground, but he thought that it was just "horseplay." It was not until he was 25 yards away from the scene that Welsh realized the men were assaulting a long-haired white male, he added. But the police were too late to prevent the murder. Defense attorneys disputed Edmonson's presence at the scene of the crime, pointing out that the officers were not certain whether four or five men were at the scene. The defense also argued that Edmonson had run away from the scene of the crime before the murder. And the defense also questioned the police officers' claim to be driving at eight miles per hour, alleging that the police were unlikely to be driving so slowly after witnessing a crime. Edmonson was also found guilty of robbery, simple assault, death by unlawful taking, reckless endangerment, theft by unlawful taking, possession of an instrument of crime and criminal conspiracy. After the verdict was read, Philadelphia County Assistant District Attorney Roger King asked Jelin to place Edmonson in a maximum-security reform school. Defense attorneys claimed that Edmonson had rehabilitated himself and had shown exemplary behavior and a good academic record while staying at the George Junior Republic youth study center. Edmonson was placed in the reform school by Family Court Judge Temin last fall while awaiting trial. Jelin suggested that Edmonson might remain in George Junior Republic. Final sentencing will occur December 27, and is contingent on the results of a mental health examination and a rehabilitation plan from the probation department, Jelin said. Carl Schwartz, Edmonson's lawyer, said that Edmonson would probably be released from juvenile detention when he becomes 21 in three years. Edmonson will turn 18 in January. Former Mathematics Graduate Chairperson Ted Chinberg, who attended part of the trial, said he was "pleased that [Judge Jelin] agreed with my impression of the evidence." Both Chinberg and current Mathematics Graduate Chairperson Wolfgang Ziller said they were very disappointed that Edmonson was tried as a juvenile, which limits his sentence to three years. Ziller has established a web page to honor Alimohamed, and to provide information about the trial. The web site is "http://www.math. upenn.edu/~wziller/moez.html". Ziller said it is important that more Penn students come to support Alimohamed at the next trial on January 8. College senior Rebecca Rosin, who dated Alimohamed, said the families and the friends of the five defendants are going to fill the room. "To compete with [the families] we will need as many people as possible at the trial," she added.