Man sentenced in unprovoked subway attack

A mentally ill West Oak Lane man who used a hammer in an unprovoked beating of a subway passenger was sentenced today to four to 10 years in prison and 15 years probation.

In issuing the sentence for Thomas Scantling, 27, Common Pleas Court Judge Rose Marie DeFino-Nastase said the "case doesn't just involve mental illness."

The judge noted that the victim, Dewayne Taylor, 21, suffered serious injuries and was emotionally traumatized by the attack.

On Sept. 4, 2008, Scantling assaulted Taylor, a lab worker who was sitting with his eyes closed and listening to an iPod on his way home on the Broad Street Subway.

SEPTA surveillance video of the attack, which was broadcast nationally, showed Taylor, Scantling and Scantling's 6-year-old son boarding the train at City Hall.

It then showed Taylor taking a seat near the door. Scantling is seen kissing his son and leading the child to a seat.

Scantling then reached into a backpack, turned away from the camera and began to strike Taylor repeatedly.

Scantling's public defender, Gregg Blender, urged leniency, pointing out that Scantling apologized to Taylor and his family at a preliminary hearing and later pleaded guilty.

Blender also noted that Scantling was a paranoid schizophrenic and that several members of Scantling's family suffered from mental illness.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Erlich asked the judge to sentence Scantling to six to 10 years, noting that the attacker had PCP in his body when the attack occurred.

"The defendant is too dangerous to be in society," Erlich said.

Scantling, a burly man wearing a yellow golf shirt, rocked gently in his chair throughout the hearing.

Addressing the court, he said he regretted the attack.

"I'm sorry," Scantling said. "I am sorry for his injuries."

Scantling's mother, Toni Frazier told the court, "My biggest concern was Dewayne Taylor and making sure he's OK . . . and making sure my son gets mental health treatment."

Taylor's mother, Tracie Taylor, said the attack damaged her son physically and emotionally.

"My son was a gentleman who was obedient . . . and full of joy," Taylor said. "I look at him today and he is not the same."

She said Scantling "showed compassion for his son and just went off on an innocent victim."