2nd teen admits role in subway slaying

Two weeks before his scheduled trial on third-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the fatal attack last year on Starbucks manager Sean Patrick Conroy, a second accused teen has decided to plead guilty.

Arthur Alston, 18, of Fisher Avenue near 8th Street in Olney, pleaded guilty yesterday to the two charges before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart. He is to be sentenced Sept. 18.

Alston was one of five teens accused of jumping Conroy about 2:30 p.m. March 26, 2008, in an underground Center City subway concourse near 13th and Market streets. Conroy, 36, who managed the Starbucks in the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, died of a fatal asthma attack triggered by the assault.

In a statement to police, Alston admitted to being the first person to punch Conroy. The other teens then allegedly joined in.

Another teen, Rasheem Bell, 17, of Tampa Street near Wyoming Avenue, Juniata Park, pleaded guilty in February to the third-degree murder and conspiracy charges, and is to be sentenced Sept. 21.

The three other teens - Ameer Best, 18, of 24th Street near Norris, North Philadelphia; Nashir Fisher, 17, of Marvine Street near Tioga, North Philadelphia, and Kinta Stanton, 17, of Smedley Street near Rockland in Logan - face trial on those charges in two weeks. Jury selection is to begin Aug. 13.

After yesterday's guilty plea, Conroy's mother, Sharon, said: "It's about time that he stood up and accepted responsibility for what he did."

Conroy's father, Stephen, said of Alston: "He started the attack. I always thought he was the spark plug and the others joined in."

Conroy's parents said they did not see any remorse in Alston's face in court yesterday.

Alston showed "no emotion," Stephen Conroy said. "I don't have a lot of sympathy or respect for him," he said.

The victim, who lived in South Philadelphia, was headed to the Starbucks where he worked at 12th and Market streets when he was attacked from behind by the group of teens. He was engaged to be married to Stevany Johar.

Johar, sitting outside the courtroom after the guilty plea yesterday, said of Alston: "Well, he knows he's guilty. So, what else can he do?"

In his statement to police after the attack, Alston, then 16, told detectives: "I was the first one to hit the guy," referring to Conroy. He said he "didn't mean to kill the guy."

All five teens attended Simon Gratz High School at the time. Alston and Best were juniors; the three others were sophomores. That afternoon, they left school early and went to the Gallery at Market East, according to their statements, which were read at their preliminary hearing last year.

Best, then 17, said in his statement that they had gone downtown to get Stanton's phone fixed. Then, "we [were] all saying we didn't want to come downtown for nothing," he told detectives. So, they decided to "jump" the next person they saw, he said.

Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Juliano Coelho said after yesterday's plea that there has been no agreement for Alston to testify as a prosecution witness at the trial. She would not comment on whether Bell may do so.

At Bell's guilty-plea hearing, it was noted that he had signed a memorandum of agreement, which suggests that he may have agreed to testify against his co-defendants.

A sixth person, who was with the five teens that day, and who has only been identified by his first name of Tim, has not been charged. Coelho yesterday would not comment on Tim.