Philadelphia Teen Found Guilty In Murder Of World War II Veteran
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A 19-year-old woman has been convicted of second degree murder in the robbery and shooting death of an 87-year-old World War II veteran outside his Northwest Philadelphia home in 2010.
The jury deliberated just a couple of hours before finding defendant India Spellman guilty. Members of her family wailed at the verdict, some left the courtroom.
Prosecutor Thomas Lipscomb says Spellman, 17 years old at the time of the murder, and a younger co-defendant, Von Combs, tried to rob George Greaves as he was doing lawn work outside his home (see related story).
"Mister Greaves struggled," Lipscomb said, "and she then would have put the muzzle up to his body and pulled the trigger."
Greaves, described by family as very physically fit, an avid fisherman, a pillar of the community, was shot in the chest and died in the driveway of his home of 40 years. The prosecutor says Spellman faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years up to life in prison.
Sentencing for Spellman is scheduled for April.
Combs, who was 14 years old at the time of the murder, was convicted earlier as a juvenile (see related story).
