WHO KILLED SA-A SA-A?
CHESTER FAMILY SEEKS ANSWERS IN MURDER OF LOVED ONE
Saying goodbye to her dying best friend, who was also the father of her three children, was just the beginning of the rollercoaster of emotions for Shannon Green.
Eight months later, there’s no end in sight – only unimaginable sadness, and mounting frustrations with Delaware County authorities and Chester police over the family’s perceived lack of effort, or even interest, in trying to solve the October 2017 murder of Sa-a Sa-a Bradley.
Bradley would have been 31 on June 26. Instead of planning a birthday celebration, Green, of Winslow Township, N.J., said last week, “I’m trying to think of something to do with the children and my mother-inlaw to make us all smile.”
Though she refers to Bradley’s mother, Deneen Jones of Chester, as her mother-in-law, Shannon, 34, and Sa-a Sa-a never married, nor had they been a romantic couple for quite some time when tragedy struck the afternoon of Oct. 12 in Chester.
According to Detective Steven Byrne of the Chester Police Department, an officer found Bradley partially under a Jeep Cherokee in front of his mother’s residence in the 200 block of Sunnyside Avenue in the city’s East End, after responding to a report of shots fired, about 4 p.m.
Bradley, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was transported to CrozerChester Medical Center where he underwent two surgeries and other intensive treatment. He died the next day, Oct. 13, 2017, a little after 1 p.m.
Family members believe Bradley was killed because he tried to help a cousin when his cousin found himself in some trouble, a drugrelated situation that ultimately proved deadly for the cousin.
His cousin, 23-year-old Mark Bell Jr. of Upland, was shot and killed in September of 2017, in an alley within blocks of his residence in the borough. Upland and county authorities are continuing to investigate Bell’s unsolved murder.
“He was bothered by Mark’s death,” Jones said of her late son.
$10K reward
While Byrne said there is a person of interest in connection with Bradley’s homicide, he was mum on the details, citing the integrity of the case.
As part of the ongoing investigation by Byrne and Detective Thomas Scarpato of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division, authorities are currently awaiting a forensic analysis on Bradley’s cell phone, Byrne said.
While Delaware County District Attorney Katayoun Copeland reiterated that the investigation remains open, she said she’s not at liberty to discuss it.
“It is our hope that a story like this can help us solve this case,” she said.
Copeland reminded there is a $10,000 reward – split between Chester and the D.A.’s office - for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Bradley’s killer.
Months back, Green penned letters to city and county authorities requesting they expedite the cell phone analysis. She got no response from the city, she said. A response from a county detective supervisor left her disappointed, and then angry.
“I think you need to back off. We are doing everything we can do,” she said the county detective supervisor told her.
At a time when the city is repeatedly appealing for help from the community, Green was left feeling a little confused.
“If this is how you are going to talk to grieving families, I can see them not wanting to talk to you either,” she said.
In her mind, Green’s done more investigatory work than the paid detectives.
After the Jeep was released as evidence from police custody a few days after the homicide, the woman who owns it found a bullet on the driver’s side floor, Green said. Then they found a receipt from a cell phone store in Chester, dated 3:22 p.m. on Oct. 12, in the middle console.
“I have a problem that they didn’t find the bullet or the receipt. I honestly think they don’t care,” Green said of the authorities. “I really think they just took this as another black kid murdered in Chester.”
“Regardless of what people think, we use the same method to investigate every homicide in the City of Chester, every lead is followed and cases are reviewed by us and the Office of the District Attorney,” said Chester Police Chief James Nolan IV. “When there is enough to forward
a prosecution, we move forward. We are in the process of reviewing a number of older cases, this being one, and if there is a viable case to be made, we will.”
While any evidence can prove useful, Byrne said investigators had the necessary ballistics from the victim. As for the receipt, he said it may have proved helpful early on, especially in obtaining any surveillance video from the business, but reminded that video is only stored for a limited amount of time.
Anyone with information in the Bradley case is asked to contact Byrne at 610-447-8430 or by email at sbyrne271@chesterpolice.org, Scarpato at 610891-4708, or 911.
Anyone with information regarding another case is asked to contact city police Capt. James Chubb at 610447-8533, or 911. ‘He didn’t see it coming’
Bradley was shot seven times, according to Green. She proceeded to sound off where on his body he was wounded: Lungs, stomach, face, liver, leg, arm and torso.
“He didn’t see it coming. He couldn’t have,” she said. “I believe it was a hit.”
Recently, Green and Jones looked back on Bradley’s life, and his death. There were both smiles and tears as they sat at the dining room table of Jones’ home reminiscing, looking at photographs and other mementos.
Green and Bradley were friends for 16 years. They met when Sa-a Sa-a, then 16 and under his father’s supervision in New Jersey, was attending Ranch Hope in Woodstown, N.J. Shannon worked at the facility.
“Fostering an environment that transforms lives empowered through Christ-centered love and compassion,” reads Ranch Hope’s mission statement on its website.
Green said Bradley had gotten himself in some trouble and his father was trying the path of “tough love.”
For the couple, it was anything but love at first sight.
“When he first came there, I couldn’t stand it. He was mouthy, and I’m bossy, so it didn’t go,” Green said. But as time passed, her feelings changed.
Because of her employment, she was not allowed to get involved with Bradley. After about six months, he eventually left the facility. He immediately called Green and she went to pick him up.
“I didn’t want him to go back,” she said.
While their romantic relationship didn’t work out, Green said Bradley remained her best friend. She said he was a devoted father to their twin daughters, 11-year-olds Sanaa and Samiya, and son, 7-year-old Tyrone.
Growing up, Bradley was an ornery boy who also had a sweet side, his mother said.
“Everybody loved him,” she said.
He also loved getting attention.
Bradley attended Chester grade schools, and later earned a GED. At the time of his death, in addition to working full time at a juice factory he was attending night school for heating and air conditioning. His children were awarded his diploma posthumously in January.
Bradley had his troubles, but he was always a good person, the women said. They both want to know what happened to him.
“Whatever it is, I want to know … He is not a saint,” his mother said. “I just want to know what happened.”
According to authorities, Bradley served two years for a third DUI and a probation violation for a minor drug offense. He was released in September of 2016. He also did a stint in jail in 2007 for a gun violation. Vow for justice
“I have very thick skin. I will do everything I can to get justice,” vowed Green.
She said Bradley was out front of the house putting oil in a Jeep Cherokee, which he drove but was registered to another woman, an ex-girlfriend.
According to police, a witness saw a lone gunman walk across the street from an alley, pull out a firearm and shoot Bradley. When he retreated under the Jeep for cover, the gunman bent down and shot again.
The unknown gunman fled the area on foot.
The witness called 911 and rendered aid until the paramedics arrived.
Hanan Bradley, Sa-a Saa’s older sister, was at home on Sunnyside Avenue that fateful afternoon. Having worked overnight, she came home to an empty house on the morning of Oct. 12. It was about 9:30 a.m.
Deneen Jones was at work.
Hanan recalled hearing a weird noise, “like an explosion,” which awakened her late in the afternoon. There was a delay before she heard someone knocking at the front door and frantically screaming her name.
“There was somebody knocking at the front and back. I opened the front door,” she said. “I saw him.”
She was referring to her brother.
Looking back, Hanan believes Sa-a Sa-a went to work that day, but came home early for some reason.
She doesn’t think he had been home for long because he didn’t try to come into the house. The doors were locked and he would have had to call her to get in, she said. Bradley was in the process of moving back into his mother’s house, but had not made the final move.
Deneen was at work and was getting ready to come home when she finally saw that she had seven missed calls from her daughter.
When she arrived at Crozer and saw Sa-a Sa-a, his mother said, “I talked to him in his ear … I asked him to hold on.”
Green, a nurse for 11 years, was at home when Hanan called her with the news. Green’s sister drove her to Crozer.
When Bradley made it through the night, she thought he was going to pull through. She was planning to bring him to her house to nurse him back to health.
Bradley was surrounded by family when he died. A difficult month
This weekend, the twins were at Widener University with their Omega Track Club. Green said they were competing to quality for the AAU championship in Iowa in August.
The hometown sporting event was an occasion that Bradley would have loved.
“He would have been there, and screaming so loud,” she said.
Green said Bradley was his kids’ biggest cheerleader.
“This is a difficult month,” Green said. “His birthday is coming up. Our birthdays are four days apart … I would skip it this year if I could, even my own birthday.”
Both Green and Jones want answers for Bradley.
“I want somebody to help us … There is a lot of somebodys out there who know something,” Green said.
“People go on with their lives, but ours will never be the same,” Jones said. “We knew he loved us, and we are just going to have to have him now in our thoughts.”
Bradley also is being mourned by a 4-year-old son, another sister, and three brothers.