SHARON HILL – Almost a year after her daughter collapsed in her arms after gunshots at an Academy Park High School football game, Tenneh Kromah shared who Fanta Bility was and how the family has coped while recounting the events the day Fanta died.
Memorial events are planned for Saturday in Sharon Hill to commemorate the shooting death of the 8-year-old and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family as they continue to grapple with the aftermath of Fanta’s death.
Speaking in both English and her native tongue of Mandingo, Tenneh Kromah told the story of the death of her daughter, which has lead to the firing of three Sharon Hill police officers.
Devon Smith, 34, Sean P. Dolan, 25, and Brian J. Devaney, 41, have been charged with voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, as well as 10 counts each of reckless endangerment.
Their defense attorneys have moved to have the manslaughter charges dismissed.
“Aug. 27 was on a Friday,” Kromah said through the translating of her nephew, Siddiq Kamara. “She went to Jummah prayer because we’re Muslim. After Jummah, her big sister, a 16-year-old, said, ‘Hey, this is our first game of the season and I’m going to be cheerleading.’”
As they went to see Fanta’s sister, Mawatta, cheerlead, the family saw multiple police officers at the football stadium.
“Today, I feel really safe,” Kromah said when she saw them as the family paid the entrance fees and gathered together with friends and family. “They all wanted to watch the game. Everybody was having fun. Fanta was having fun.”
Kromah said that when the game ended, Fanta and the kids were walking ahead and playing.
“They’re walking ahead … going towards the car and just running around,” Kromah said. “At that time, (we) heard multiple shots. At the entrance, everybody … started running back into the stadium. It was chaos.”
Fanta also ran toward her mom.
“And then, all of a sudden, Fanta reached (me) and Fanta collapsed,” Kromah said. “She collapsed. (I) was like, ‘Fanta, what’s going on? What’s going on? Let’s get up. Let’s get up.’ “
“Then, (I) looked down and when (I) looked down, (I) saw blood,” Kromah said, adding that she lifted Fanta’s shirt. “That’s when (I) saw the bullet wound and then started screaming, ‘Somebody help me. Somebody help me. Somebody help me.’ “
Sharon Hill Officer James Scanlon has said that he saw Kromah screaming and noticed the girl was bleeding from a chest wound.
He attempted to put pressure on Fanta’s wound while another officer brought a car around. They rushed her to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, where she was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.
The controversy
Since then, the incident has come under intense scrutiny.
A grand jury was convened and two teenagers — 18-year-old Hasein Strand, of the 500 block of Felton Street in Collingdale, and Angelo “AJ” Ford, 16, of the first block of High Street in Sharon Hill — were initially charged with first-degree murder under the legal theory of “transferred intent” after the two exchanged gunfire in the 900 block of Coates Street, about a block away.
Murder charges were later withdrawn.
Strand was sentenced to three to six years in state prison in January after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a firearm, and Ford continues to be sought by law enforcement after escaping from a juvenile detention facility this spring.
After a grand jury presentment, Smith, Dolan and Devaney were fired from the Sharon Hill Police Department and then charged with one count each of voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, as well as 10 counts each of reckless endangerment.
The three officers discharged 25 rounds toward a car that they believed was involved in a gun battle, riddling it with bullet holes, flattening two tires and smashing at least one window on the passenger side, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.
“The discharge of the police officers was directed toward the football stadium where spectators were exiting,” according to the grand jury presentment. “Several spectators exiting the stadium were struck by gunfire.”
Fanta and her older sister, Mamasu, were among them.
The officers were held for court on all charges following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Robert Burke in March and formally arraigned later that same month.
Last month, their attorneys moved to have the case dismissed.
Sharon Hill borough officials hired former Philadelphia District Attorney Kelley Hodge and her firm, Fox-Rothschild LLP, to conduct an independent investigation surrounding the borough police policies and procedures.
The report was completed in June and a heavily redacted version of it was released in July as NAACP leaders and others call for release of the full report through press conferences and protests.
‘She loved everybody’
In the middle of all of this is the memory of an 8-year-old girl with sparkling eyes and a friendly smile, a person her family does not want lost in the controversial aftermath or forgotten.
“Fanta was a very outgoing young girl,” Kromah said. “She loved everybody … she was very giving.”
The 8-year-old loved fashion and dressing up, as well as dancing to make videos on TikTok.
“She used to take (my) phone every day and be on TikTok,” Kromah said.
Her mom also recalled how she played with her brother, Abu, who recently turned 8-years-old.
“She loved to play outside with her little brother,” Kromah said. “They always used to play outside together every single day.”
The second grader, who received A’s and B’s, enjoyed art most of all and was known for her friendliness and generosity.
Fanta would give her clothes and her shoes to her friends, her mother explained, adding that she’d also share food.
“She would grab the snacks and the juices that (I) kept in (my) house and take to the kids outside,” Kromah said.
Memorial service
Remembering Fanta will be at the center of events taking place Saturday, the year anniversary of her death.
At noon, some of Fanta’s friends and family and community leaders will speak at a Gathering to Remember Fanta at Sharon Hill Memorial Park, 1201 Chester Pike, Sharon Hill.
At 1:15 p.m., there will be a walk down Chester Pike to Kenny Avenue to Coates Street.
“We’re not going to go inside the football field intentionally,” family representative Dawn Chavous said. “The family felt it would be too difficult to go into it.”
Chavous said the events will be an opportunity to reflect on what took place and to remember the impact Fanta had and continues to have on those impacted by the events of Aug. 27, 2021.
“We want people to come out,” Chavous said. “This event is open to anyone and everyone who cares about her, cared about the story, cared about what happened or was impacted by what happened because Fanta lost her life but everyone who was there that evening was traumatized in some way by what took place.”
She noted that three other people, including Mamasu, were injured that evening.
“Our goal is to raise $60,000,” Chavous said through the event and the GoFundMe page. “We’re hoping that will at least give (Kromah) some relief, some support because it’s a lot of pressure.”
After the shooting, Kromah left her certified nursing assistant job where she took care of the elderly to care for her surviving children and to seek justice for Fanta.
“At the end of this, you still have a family who’s still dealing with the PTSD and the shock of what took place last year,” Chavous said. “In all reality, Fanta should still be here.”
Chavous explained that this is one way people can help the family.
“We’re hoping that people can approach this issue with a little more empathy and understanding of the family and remembering if they want to help, there are ways they can do that, that don’t require any type of controversy,” she said.
‘Why us?’
In the meantime, the family shared how they persevere.
Kamara said the family appreciates the news media and their focus on Fanta and the case.
“In the beginning, it was very difficult because we needed some space,” Fanta’s cousin and Kromah’s nephew said. “There was so much we needed to deal with at that time. We didn’t even know where to start.”
He explained that in 2004 he and Kromah came to the United States after fleeing civil wars in Liberia that lasted from 1989 to 2003 and left more than 250,000 dead.
He said Kromah wanted a better life for her children.
“We didn’t do nothing,” Kamara said. “They were at the right place. They respect the law. It’s like, ‘Why us? Why did this have to happen to us?’ We just want to make sure whatever happened that day, we get the proper justice as an immigrant.”
So, they rely on their faith.
“We’re Muslim,” Kamara said. “Our religion, we believe that everything happens for a reason. We believe that the way that Fanta went, that was what God wanted to happen.
“We pray for her all the time,” he said.
How to help
The Family’s GoFundMe page: https://bit.ly/FantaBilityFund
