PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An 18-year-old has been sentenced to 23 1/2 to 47 years behind bars for his role in the killing of a 15-year-old girl in West Philadelphia, and the attempted murder of eight others in four separate shootings.
Malachi Johnson was 15 years old when he shot nine people, killing one — 15-year-old Embaba Mengesteabe. She was inside a car at the gas station with her brother in February of 2021, when both were shot in their heads. Her brother survived.
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Prosecutors say the siblings and their mother fled a tumultuous life in Ethiopia more than a decade earlier, only to be placed in Southwest Philadelphia knowing no one, and with very few resources. But the family made a life.
Prosecutors told the judge that the defendant was involved in about a half dozen infractions while in custody, and had bragged about all of the shootings — including the killing — online and in rap videos.
But the defense argued that Johnson lived a more traumatic life than most, enduring physical abuse by his crack-addicted father starting at the age of seven. Johnson’s family was also from Africa, fleeing war-torn Liberia — his father, a kidnapped child who was tortured by soldiers.
A psychologist who wrote a report testified about the teen’s horrific upbringing and said Johnson experienced so many levels of toxic trauma, it would have had a profound impact on him and his behaviors.
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Along with the sentence, Johnson is ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution and must participate in significant mental health counseling.
The other defendant in the case, Ousmane Fine, is set to be sentenced next month.
* Original Article:
https://www.audacy.com/kywnewsradio/news/local/teen-given-decades-in-prison-for-murder-of-15-year-old
