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A Point Breeze woman will spend up to 15 years behind bars for killing her boyfriend after a night out in Center City last spring.
Court of Common Pleas Judge Glenn B. Bronson convicted Alicia Simmons, identified as Alonzo Simmons, a 30-year-old man, in court records, of third-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime April 13.
“I did love Angel,” she said prior to receiving her sentencing. “I can’t change what happened, but I’m sorry.”
Bronson, who noted Simmons lack of intent and admission of the slaying to police at the scene, sentenced her to 7 to 15 years for the former charge and a concurrent sentence of 1 to 2 years for latter charge.
“She wanted to scare him,” defense attorney Edward C. Meehan Jr. said to the judge of Simmons’ intention when stabbing her boyfriend Angel Brown, 27. “In retrospect, she thinks it probably did just the opposite — that it made him angrier that she had challenged him like that.”
Meehan indicated Simmons did not have a prior criminal record while Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lipscomb noted while Simmons appears as a woman, she “has a man’s strength.”
The knife used in the fatal stabbing pierced Brown’s heart, causing his death shortly after the incident. The violent act occurred after an argument that initiated at a Center City bar continued in the cab ride home and escalated while inside the couple’s apartment on the 2000 block of Oakford Street at 2:47 a.m. April 7, 2011.
“The court took into account the various factors and made its decision,” Lipscomb said after the hearing. “The court’s sentencing was well within the sentencing guidelines.”
The father of the deceased spoke to the judge prior to his ruling on jail time, asking him to provide some satisfaction as he voiced his displeasure for Simmons.
“I’m in a strange place right now,” Angel Brown Sr. said. “It takes a lot to buy a headstone with your own name on.”
While the judge was in his chambers contemplating Simmons’ sentencing, Brown told the Review that his son was a good man with a great sense of humor.
“His laughs will make you laugh,” he said.
Originally from North Philly, Angel Brown Jr. was an electrician. While he had informed his mother of his relationship with Simmons shortly before his death, his father was left in the dark until the trial revealed his and Simmons’ bond.
“I felt sometimes I may have been a little too hard [on him] because he couldn’t bring this to the table and talk about it,” Angel Brown Sr. said. “Maybe that’s why he’s gone.”
Simmons’ sister, her husband and their two children, along with a family friend, were in the courtroom or waiting just outside during the sentencing, but all declined to comment. Angel Brown Sr. declined to talk further after the sentencing was announced.
“I can’t do this,” he said as he walked down the hallway outside of the courtroom.
Contact Managing Editor Amanda L. Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
Also in this week’s Police Report:
High stakes
Subway stealing
Triple teamed
Flower prowler
Kind of a drag
Web-exclusive Police Report:
Neck tie
Fire Report:
Flame thrower
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