Judge won't cut bail for alleged Lewis accomplice

Shawn Williams, 23, of the 5700 block of Ogontz Avenue, was being held yesterday by Judge Deborah Griffin on charges of hindering apprehension, giving false reports to police, and obstruction of justice lodged against him Nov. 1.

Prosecutors say that Williams told a former girlfriend he had driven a man to a doughnut shop and the man had "shot somebody." Prosecutors continued that the girlfriend, who is the mother of Williams' child, then reported that information to police.

Prosecutors say that Williams signed a statement admitting that he drove someone named Mahadi Bey to the Dunkin' Donuts on the morning of Oct. 31, and that Bey admitted to having shot someone.

Prosecutors contend that this never happened, that Bey was not involved, and that the report to police tied up the investigation.

Griffin continued the hearing on the charges until Dec. 13 because detectives working on the case were in Florida bringing back the suspect, John Lewis, 21. He is accused of shooting Cassidy on the morning of Oct. 31 during an attempted robbery at a West Oak Lane Dunkin' Donuts.

"Bail is not supposed to be punishment," Griffin said, agreeing with the argument of Williams' defense lawyer, Thurgood Matthews. "But under the circumstances, I'll let the same bail stand."

Assistant District Attorney Charles Ehrlich said, after the hearing, that the false lead gave Lewis a more than 24-hour head start in his escape to Florida.

Ehrlich said he had no idea about Williams' motives but said after the hearing: "Police wasted a day and a half."

Ehrlich told the court yesterday that a former girlfriend of Williams' reported to police that Williams confessed to her on Oct. 31 that he drove a man named Mahadi Bey to the Dunkin' Donuts.

According to Ehrlich, Williams told police that "he gave [Bey] a ride. He said he didn't know what [Bey] was going to do. . . . [Bey] went into the Dunkin' Donuts and told him 'I just shot somebody.' "

However, Ehrlich said that after viewing a surveillance tape from the Broad Street doughnut shop and taking a DNA sample from Bey, authorities concluded that Bey had nothing to do with the case.

Even so, Matthews said $100,000 bail was too high, especially because his client was not a flight risk.

Matthews said that Williams had recently signed up as an Army recruit. "He was a serious pro football prospect, who once signed on to play arena football," he said.

Neither lawyer speculated about a motive for either Williams' or his former girlfriend's claiming that Bey was involved in the shooting.

A $50,000 reward was offered by the Fraternal Order of the Police and several businesses and organizations the day of the slaying. The reward eventually grew to $152,000.