Pa. dad goes to prison after teen son fatally shoots twin brother

A Philadelphia man was sentenced Thursday to six to 12 years in state prison after one of his twin sons accidentally shot the other after the man encouraged them to play with his gun in an Overbrook apartment two years ago. They lived primarily with their mother, prosecutors have said. Aleem Gillard, 43, pleaded guilty in February to charges of involuntary manslaughter and possession of a firearm. As a felon, he was not permitted to have a gun.

On Dec. 1, 2019, Gillard’s 18-year-old sons and 16-year-old daughter were in his apartment when his sons were playing with his gun, and one son, Fayaadh, fatally shot his brother, Suhail, in the chest.

Chesley Lightsey, supervisor of the DA’s homicide unit, told Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom during a virtual sentencing hearing Thursday that the father encouraged his sons to play with the gun. After the shooting, authorities said, Gillard told his surviving son and daughter to lie to police, telling them the teen was shot while going to a corner store. He also had his daughter hide the gun, she said.

The District Attorney’s Office initially charged Fayaadh Gillard with murder, possession of an instrument of crime, and lying to authorities. The office dropped the charges after further investigation indicated that the shooting was an accident. Aleem Gillard had four prior convictions for illegal gun possession, Lightsey said. In the most recent case, court records show, he pleaded guilty in February 2015 to felony firearm-possession charges stemming from a 2013 arrest and was sentenced to 2 1/2 to five months in jail and 10 years’ probation.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/06/pa-dad-goes-to-prison-after-teen-son-fatally-shoots-twin-brother.html