The trial of Donte Johnson continued Monday May 7 with prosecutors resting their case and the defendant making the decision not to testify.

Defense attorneys for the defendant are also expected to conclude their case, with the jury receiving their instructions from the judge sometime today.

Johnson, 20, is accused of raping and murdering Sabina Rose O’Donnell on June 2, 2010. Gary Server, Johnson’s defense attorney, has been calling his client’s confession into question, arguing that Johnson suffers from mental dysfunctions and may not have understood all of the details of what he was doing. Johnson decided not to testify, and defense counsel backed off a motion to call in character witnesses to attest to Johnson’s non-violence and peacefulness. Their reason was it would open the door for the prosecution to cross examine those witnesses regarding a 2010 charge against Johnson for simple assault. In that case, he was adjudicated delinquent.

Server also cross-examined Detective Thorsten Lucke, who took Johnson’s confession, and Detective Frances Kane, the lead investigator on the case. Server repeatedly asked questions regarding samples of long hair that were found on O’Donnell’s body. One hair was identified as animal hair; the others were human hair — one of which had a root. It was to be analyzed for DNA, but there was a question if it was ever sent.

“I don’t know,” Kane replied. “You’ll have to ask the criminalistics lab.”

But there was no question that Johnson’s semen was found on Sabina’s body. And Johnson admitted to putting her in a choke hold, saying that at one point she couldn’t breathe — that she was gasping for breath before she became unconscious. When Johnson was asked how the victim’s bra managed to be around her neck, Johnson allegedly replied it was probably him.

“That was probably from me trying to take her bra off,” Johnson allegedly replied. Lucke said Johnson seemed evasive and unwilling to go into too many details.

At one point during the proceedings, Assistant District Attorney Richard Sax put Sabina’s best friend Marie Rodriguez on the stand, asking her about the last hours she spent with the victim. In a testimony that bordered on tears, Rodriguez told the jury what they did that night and how she felt about her friend.

“She was the kind of person that made me want to do better,” Rodriguez said. “She helped get me a job at PYT. That day we got off work and got some pizza. We sat across from my house eating and just talking about life. We were just hanging out, you know? We laughed, we talked and we invited some friends over. We went out to eat and just hang out — the only argument we had was whether to eat inside the restaurant or outside. We ended up eating outside. We had a glass of wine and went back to my house. I fell asleep around 1 a.m. When I woke up Sabina was sitting in the chair. Normally she slept over, but I had a huge pile of clothes on my bed and I slept on the couch.”

Sabina asked her friend if she could borrow her bike to get home. Rodriguez said yes and that was the last time she saw her friend alive.

Homicide detectives are trying to determine the motive behind a shooting in West Philadelphia on Wednesday night, April 2 that left a 16-year-old boy dead the next day.

The victim, whose name was not released by Tribune press time, was critically wounded after being struck several times by gunfire as he was walking out of a corner grocery store in the vicinity of 62nd and Callowhill streets.

According to Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson Officer Christine O’Brien, the incident happened around 8:10 p.m. The victim was one of four teens who was in the neighborhood visiting relatives. He was asked to go to the nearby Koury Grocery and when he walked out of the store, a dark-colored Pontiac sedan with tinted windows drove past. Someone from the passenger side began firing, striking the teen four times in the head, chest and arms. He was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in critical condition and died Thursday morning, May 3.

The motive still remains unknown, but authorities believe the incident was a case of mistaken identity.

In a series of unrelated criminal investigations, law enforcement authorities said there have been a surge of robberies around the campuses of Drexel and Temple Universities. According to Drexel’s Public Safety office, in the past three weeks there have been a series of robberies in the early morning hours west and north of the campus. So far, no one has been injured.

The suspects have been described as two Black males, 18- to 25-years of age and wearing hooded sweatshirts.

“Drexel Police and security patrols have been increased in marked and unmarked vehicles. Philadelphia Police have also added uniformed and plainclothes officers to the area, and are working with Drexel Public Safety to identify and apprehend these perpetrators,” said a statement released by Drexel’s public safety department. “Public Safety suggests that you take appropriate caution when walking on or around campus. Walk in groups, and avoid displaying valuables and the use of distracting devices such as cell phones or music players.”

Temple University also reported several robberies around the immediate streets near the campus over recent weeks, but officials say it’s not true that there is a rise of incidents on the campus.

“The notion that robberies are on the rise on the campus is false,” said Ray Betzner, spokesman for the university. “On April 10 there was a robbery on the campus in which a cell phone was taken, but no gun was used in that incident. Now in the immediate areas around the campus, there have been eight robberies and three of those incidents were armed robberies. Arrests were made in three of those cases. Since January 1st of 2012 there have been a total of nine robberies.”

In another unrelated criminal investigation, three suspects were arrested following a tense situation in which three family members were held hostage during the attempted robbery of an Asian takeout restaurant.

The incident began at about midnight Wednesday at the Hong Heng store at 4201 Ogden Street in West Philadelphia. According to police, neighbors observed what they said were three suspicious Black males wearing hoodies and following the store’s owner inside. Police were called to the scene, but when officers arrived the metal security grates were down. Officers heard crying from inside and called in the SWAT team. After several hours, the family was released and the suspects were arrested. The suspects have been identified as Anthony Jackson, 20, Demetrius Young, 20, and Kaneef Smith, 21. They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, aggravated assault and related offenses.

Three police officers, including the deputy chief, have been suspended and a state of emergency declared in the tiny borough of Colwyn, Delaware County, following an investigation into why a restrained teenager in custody was Tasered and the incident allegedly covered up.

Mayor Dan Rutland confirmed earlier this week that an officer, Corporal Trevor Parham, is under investigation for allegedly using a Taser on a teenage suspect, identified as Da-Qwaun Jackson, 17, while he was handcuffed and in police custody on April 24. Parham has been relieved of his badge and gun pending further investigation. The incident happened inside the borough police station’s detention area, and there were concerns that the officers involved were trying to cover it up.

Also suspended were Deputy Chief Wendell Reed and Officer Michel Drucker. The state of emergency was declared because of the shortage of officers.

“If for some reason an individual is not complying while in police custody or becoming violent and aggressive, there’s many options you can use to subdue them,” Reed said in an earlier published report. “The Taser is one of those less-than-lethal options.”

So far, three of the Colwyn Police Department’s 14 officers have been placed on suspension following the incident. According to Mayor Rutland, none of the remaining 10 on the job was a trained supervisor and he had to reinstate Lt. Wesley Seitz, whom the Borough Council had earlier suspended. Seitz had nothing to do with the tasering, and actually informed the mayor about it. The mayor said he was not notified of the incident until he inquired about it five days later.

According to reports, on April 24, Jackson was brought in for questioning following a fight and was allegedly uncooperative with authorities. He declined to give his name to Parham, who gave him a citation for disorderly conduct, which Jackson threw on the ground. According to reports, Parham took him into custody and while Jackson was handcuffed and his legs shackled, he kicked the holding cell bars. At that point, Parham allegedly used his Taser on the teen.

Rutland did not return phone calls from the Tribune by press time, but in a published report said that he was very disturbed by what happened.

“I should have been informed, not kept in the dark,” he said. “It’s disturbing to me. It’s not the way you run a department.”