2 North Philadelphia men acquitted in deadly home invasion

In a verdict that set off a storm of emotion and anger, a Philadelphia jury on Thursday acquitted two North Philadelphia men of all charges in a 2008 home invasion that left a young woman dead, her 3-year-old son a quadriplegic, and her boyfriend seriously wounded.

The Common Pleas Court jury deliberated about four hours starting late Wednesday before acquitting Jafar Malik Stevenson, 33, and James "Putt" Williford, 36, in the Dec. 1, 2008, predawn invasion of a house in the 3300 block of Mutter Street.

Despite stern warnings from Judge Carolyn Engel Temin and the efforts of about a dozen sheriff's deputies trying to keep order in the courtroom audience of about 60, the verdicts were met with sobs of happiness from the defendants' families and sadness and anger from those of Samantha Houston, 19, and her boyfriend, Amin Payne.

The emotions only intensified when deputies led the two defendants' partisans from the courtroom and held the Houston and Payne families inside until the others cleared the Criminal Justice Center building.

"We were the ones who were quiet, and we're locked in here," one woman screamed. "We're being disrespected."

The two men, both with arrest histories for various street crimes, were arrested in January 2009, more than a month after the 5 a.m. home invasion. Police said Payne, now 22, awoke to sounds of two gunmen barging into the bedroom of the Mutter Street house he shared with Houston and their sons, Amin Jr., 3, and Amir, 1.

Houston threw herself atop Payne as the shooting started and was hit six times and killed. Though wounded, Payne escaped by jumping from a second-floor window.

Amir, who was sleeping in the bed with his parents, escaped injury but Amin Jr., in his own bed in the same room, was shot twice in the back and paralyzed.

Payne was the key witness during the weeklong trial and he identified both defendants as the gunmen. But as in the preliminary hearing in 2009, Payne was grilled by defense attorneys over inconsistencies in his identifications and statements to police. Payne's brother told the jury he doubted Payne's truthfulness.

At the preliminary hearing, Payne testified that sometime before Halloween 2008 he stole $5,000 from a drug stash house that he said belonged to Williford. Between then and the Dec. 1 invasion, Payne testified, he was shot at twice from slowly cruising cars by gunmen he could not identify.

Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega was visibly upset at the verdict and called the case a tragedy: "There's a little boy who was shot and left paralyzed, a mother who is dead, and a man who was shot six times."

Vega noted that the two murder weapons were found three blocks from Stevenson's girlfriend's house.

Williford's attorney, Jack McMahon, said Payne's lack of credibility was enhanced by the fact there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence linking Williford or Stevenson to the crime.

"Payne's story was a study of inconsistencies," McMahon added.

Stevenson's attorney, David Nenner, said, "The jury did the right thing: They listened to all the arguments and heard the evidence and came to the right decision."

McMahon and Nenner said their clients had no open charges against them and were expected to be released from prison shortly.

Both men would have faced the death penalty if found guilty of first-degree murder.

Payne remains in custody in lieu of $250,000 bail, pending a May 2 trial for attempted murder, robbery, and related charges in a March 2010 shooting.