Facts of the Crime:
In 1991, LaShawn Whaley, 20, was an innocent bystander at a North Philadelphia playground when she allegedly saw neighborhood thug and drug dealer Donyell Paddy shoot and kill two men during a pick-up basketball game. Whaley initially fingered Paddy as the shooter to police, but on the eve of the murder trial, she disappeared. Without their key witness, prosecutors were forced to withdraw the charges and set Paddy free. Informants later told investigators that Paddy’s criminal allies kidnapped Whaley and took her to Maryland, where they kept her, supplying her a room and food, until the double-murder case was dropped. She returned to Philadelphia.
In 1993, when prosecutors later tracked down the witness, she again agreed to testify against Paddy. A short time later, Paddy showed up at the woman’s doorstep wearing a floral dress and wig. He shot Whaley six times and killed her. Paddy was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 and now sits on Pennsylvania’s death row. He also is serving a life sentence for shooting boxer Wilbur "Little Man" Thomas to death in 1989.
Paddy was sentenced to death in Philadelphia County on December 19, 1995.
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