PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5 -- Three suburban Philadelphia teenagers were convicted of third degree murder Monday in the baseball bat beating of a 16-year-old boy. A Common Pleas jury found three other defendants guilty of lesser charges in the November 1994 death of Eddie Polec. All six suspects were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors had sought first degree murder convictions, which carry mandatory life prison sentences, against the six defendants, who were juveniles at the time of Polec's murder. Third degree murder carries a maximum prison sentence of 10-20 years while conspiracy and manslaughter are punishable by 5-10 years in prison. Prosecutors contended the suspects, who were high school students from the affluent community of Abington, were part of a murderous mob that went looking for a group of rival teens from Philadelphia's Fox Chase section. Assistant District Attorney Joe Casey said the defendants spotted Eddie Polec, an innocent victim, and attacked him with bats. Polec died of repeated blows to the head on the steps of a church where he was once an altar boy. Convicted of third degree murder were Nicholas Pinero and Anthony Rienzi, both age 18, and 19-year-old Thomas Crook. Dawan Alexander, 18, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, while 20-year-old Carlo Johnson and 18-year-old Bou Khathavong were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. A seventh defendant pleaded guilty to third degree murder and testified for the prosecution. Kevin Convey, 19, admitted striking the first blow with the bat, but said other members of the mob finished off the boy.
Convey testified that Rienzi held Polec, who was begging for his life, while Pinero and Crook clubbed him with bats and the others kicked him. Police said the attackers were avenging a rumored assault by Fox Chase youths on an Abington girl a week earlier. The rumor turned out to be unfounded. But defense lawyers said Convey was lying to save his own skin, and claimed Polec was part of a rival group of Fox Chase youths involved in a rumble with Abington youths. The case attracted national attention following reports that 911 operators were slow to respond to emergency calls about a bat-wielding mob. It took 45 minutes for police to arrive on the scene. Mayor Ed Rendell later disciplined seven police emergency workers for abusive behavior toward callers reporting the incident.
