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Teen arrested in Sabina's rape-murder

DONTE JOHNSON'S neighbors in his North Philadelphia housing development knew the teen as a small-time punk who used to run around with a group of guys stealing bicycles from yards.

Donte Johnson, 18, left, was charged with the sexually assault and killing of Sabina O'Donnell, right.
Donte Johnson, 18, left, was charged with the sexually assault and killing of Sabina O'Donnell, right.Read more

DONTE JOHNSON'S neighbors in his North Philadelphia housing development knew the teen as a small-time punk who used to run around with a group of guys stealing bicycles from yards.

But yesterday, Johnson, 18, was charged with stealing something far more precious when he was arrested for allegedly taking the life of Sabina Rose O'Donnell, 20, who was slain in a vacant lot next to her North Philadelphia home on June 2.

A neighbor who asked only to be identified as Felicia said Johnson "wasn't regular, that's for sure," yet she still was shocked by his arrest.

"It's not like he was going to get a scholarship to Penn State," she said. "But now he's getting a scholarship to the state pen."

Johnson's penchant for pilfering turned tragic when he spotted O'Donnell pedaling home on a borrowed bike after a night out with friends in Northern Liberties, police said.

On a bicycle himself, Johnson stalked O'Donnell to her home at 4th Street and Girard Avenue and accosted her as she headed inside just after 2 a.m., police said.

Although investigators believe that he initially intended only to steal her bike, his motive turned murderous when Sabina put up a "slight struggle," homicide Capt. James Clark said during a news conference.

Yesterday, O'Donnell's neighbors said it was hard to believe that neither they, nor their dogs, heard her struggle.

"Everyone has been living not just with fear, but with anger," said Kathleen Hackett, 57, who lives across the street. "Here we were in our homes and there she was without help."

Johnson dragged the petite beauty behind her building, where he savagely beat her, stripped her naked, raped her and then strangled her, Clark said. Her mangled body was left in a grassy lot on Orianna Street, just steps from the apartment building where she lived with her stepfather.

Johnson also attempted to break into apartments in O'Donnell's building, Clark said.

"This heinous crime was a random act and was started by the fact that Mr. Johnson wanted to take the bicycle," Clark said.

O'Donnell's bicycle has not been found, police said yesterday.

The horrific circumstances of O'Donnell's slaying captivated the city in the two weeks since a passer-by found her body later that morning and alerted police.

Many were stunned and sickened that such an atrocity could happen on the edge of Northern Liberties, which has become one of Philadelphia's hippest neighborhoods during the past decade.

Family, friends and strangers alike mourned the chatty charmer, a dancer, model and aspiring actress who worked at the upscale burger joint PYT at the Piazza at Schmidts in Northern Liberties.

Tommy Up, owner of PYT, said O'Donnell's friends were going to hold a toast last night - with champagne, O'Donnell's favorite - to celebrate Johnson's arrest.

"There's no way this has a happy ending," Up said. "But it is an ending so we can move on and continue to find ways to honor her spirit."

A break in the case came last Thursday, when police released surveillance video of a man pedaling his bike in the opposite direction of O'Donnell. The video showed the unidentified biker stopping to turn and follow O'Donnell.

Chillingly, it also showed the same biker, minutes earlier, trying to follow another woman but giving up when she got too far ahead, Clark said.

The video led a tipster to alert police Friday that she believed the biker was a neighbor she knew as "Donte."

Johnson's neighbor, Felicia, said she didn't turn him in but did approach him when she saw the surveillance video and the resemblance he bore to the suspect.

"He told me, 'Get the f--- out of here,' " she said. "He's never cursed at me before. I knew something was up."

Johnson wasn't a stranger to police.

In 2006, he was arrested for slugging a school cop, police sources said. Two years later, he was pinched for carrying drugs.

He stopped attending William Penn High School in March 2009 during his sophomore year, according to a school district spokesman.

Officers Joseph Goodwin Jr. and Matthew McCarthy, who work in North Philadelphia's 26th District, recognized the teen immediately.

Earlier this week, they saw him in the area and were going to question him about an outstanding bench warrant related to his '06 case, but he took off running, raising their suspicion.

Sources said a man who was with Johnson that day was brought in for questioning. He was shown the surveillance video, and acknowledged that the guy on the bike looked like Johnson.

Tuesday brought the biggest break in the case - a call from Johnson's mother. She told police that her son had confessed to her that he'd attacked O'Donnell, Clark said. Clark declined to divulge whether Johnson had admitted the crime to police.

Johnson's neighbors said his mother is a "real nice lady" and a "good woman" who works every day and has other children. Still, they were blown away by her decision to turn over her son.

"That was something brave to do," said one neighbor.

Johnson turned himself in to police at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and was charged with murder, rape and related offenses yesterday.

Investigators collected DNA at the scene and plan to obtain a sample from Johnson. Results could take weeks. Police also believe a white tank top discarded at the scene belongs to Johnson.

"We're 100 percent positive we have the right individual," Clark said.

Hackett, who lived across the street from O'Donnell, said the word used in the neighborhood repeatedly to describe the case is "surreal." She said O'Donnell's death has brought neighbors together who haven't talked with one another for years.

"It's a wake-up call but not a pleasant one," she said. "And the saddest thing of all is that the most important person involved, we can't help."

Staff writer David Gambacorta contributed to this report.