Shaurn Thomas, who was paid $4.1 million by the city of Philadelphia after serving 24 years in prison for a murder he said he didn’t commit, was sentenced on Friday to effectively spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing a man over a $1,200 drug debt.
Common Pleas Court Judge Roxanne Covington sentenced Thomas to 33 to 66 years in prison for fatally shooting Akeem Edwards in January 2023. Thomas’ girlfriend at the time acted as the getaway driver, and in the weeks and months that followed, he threatened her, and then later put out a hit on her, to try and keep her from cooperating with police, prosecutors said.
Thomas, 50, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, conspiracy, witness intimidation, and related gun crimes last year…