PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In June 2022, James Lambert, 73, was beaten to death with traffic cones by a group of teens in the city’s Brewerytown neighborhood.
About a month later, two of the teens, a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, were charged as adults with third-degree murder. Last month, Judge Barbara McDermott tossed charges against the now 16-year-old boy, who was considered the instigator of the attack. He remained in the adult court system while the girl’s case was moved to the juvenile court system, where she was sentenced to five years with time served, part house arrest, part in an institution.
Lambert’s family says they are frustrated with the justice system — his niece, Tania Stephens, calling the outcomes a “slap on the wrist.”
“I am not pleased with the decision the courts made, and my family is not pleased as well,” she said.
Pennsylvania law prohibits a juvenile’s record from being public, but Stephens says the girl pleaded guilty to some charges and noted how she stood up and made a statement to her family, expressing sorrow, saying she’s sorry for taking part in Lambert’s murder.