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16-year-old Jason Sweeney worked alongside his doting father in the construction business. He had recently met 15-year-old Justina Morley and had developed a crush on her. Unbeknownst to him, however, Justina was sleeping with his best friend, 16-year-old Edward Batzig Jr., as well as 16-year-old Nicolas Coia. In fact, Jason and Nicholas had also been friends but had gradually drifted apart. Edward, however, had been his best friend since fourth grade.

On the evening of the 30th of May, 2003, Justina lured Jason the the Trails, a wooded area of the Fishtown section of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. She told him they were going to have sex. He was excited. He had already planned to bring Justina to his house the following afternoon to meet his parents. “She’s nice. I think you’ll like her,” he had giddily told them. Unfortunately, something much more sinister was planned. As the duo were undressing among the shadowed brush, Edward, Nicolas and Nicolas’ brother, 17-year-old Domenic, appeared. They were armed with a hatchet and a hammer. The teenagers had been planning this for weeks. They knew Justin was getting paid and they wanted the money to blow on drugs.

As they stepped from the shadows, weapons in tow, they started to bludgeon and slash the terrified teenager. “Please stop, I’m bleeding,” Jason wailed but to no avail. After the attack with the weapons, they grabbed a large boulder and smashed it over Jason’s head. He was left completely unrecognisable. As he lay dying, the teens grabbed his wallet containing his recent paycheck. They then shared “a group hug - it was like we were all happy with what we did.” After the murder, they went to another friend’s house, Joshua Staab. The teenagers were splattered with blood and started to brag about what they had just done.

During trial, Justina pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in exchange for her testimony against the other defendants and was sentenced to 17 and a half to 35 years in prison. Dominic, Nicholas, and Edward were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. While Philadelphia is accustomed to almost-daily murders, the savageness and lack of remorse shocked the tough and gritty town. If you’re not safe among your own friends then where are you safe?

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May 30, 2003 SWEENEY Jason Keel Sweeney was a construction worker from Fishtown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who at the age of 16 was murdered by 4 teenagers on May 30, 2003. The perpetrators included a girl he was dating and his best friend since childhood. Jason had left school and was working for his father (a contractor) on a building project in Philadelphia. He had recently met a girl he liked (15-year-old Justina Morley) with whom he had a date on the evening of May 30, 2003. Unbeknownst to Sweeney Morley was regularly engaging in sexual relations with two other 16-year-olds – Nicholas Coia and Edward Batzig Jr (he had been Sweeney's best friend since the fourth grade). Coia and his 17-year-old brother Domenic had also been friendly with Sweeney but the brothers later ended the friendship. With the promise of sex Morley lured Sweeney to "The Trails" (a wooded area of Fishtown near the Delaware River) where Batzig and the Coia brothers were lying in wait. Batzig took the first blow striking Sweeney in the head 4-5 times. He said "Jason started begging for his life, but we just kept hitting him". He also said that Sweeney looked at him during the beating and said "Please stop, I'm bleeding" after which Batzig hit Sweeney again with the axe. Batzig and the Coia brothers then pummeled Sweeney primarily on his head and face with a hatchet, a hammer and a rock until he was dead. They finished by dropping a boulder rock on the right side of his head (his head was crushed and the only bone left undamaged was his left cheekbone). Sweeney was identified by a cut on his hand that he sustained at his construction job. Following Sweeney's murder the four assailants stole the $500 cash Jason had earned from work. Before leaving the crime scene the Coias, Batzig and Morley shared a group hug and split the money which they used to buy jewelry, heroin, marijuana and Xanax and then "partied beyond redemption" according to Domenic. The police said the murder was planned days before. Part of the preparation of the murder was listening to the Beatles song "Helter Skelter" over 40 times. Joshua Staab (a friend of Domenic Coia) said that the group had bragged about their plan to kill Sweeney by using Justina Morley as "bait." Staab also said that Batzig knew that Sweeney would have his paycheck earnings on him on the day of the murder. The prosecutor asked Staab about the teens' demeanor after the killing. Staab said "They seemed pretty fine. In a way, happy". Although all 4 teens involved in the murder were drug addicts they weren't high before they murdered Sweeney. In response to a detective's question about whether they were high during the killing Domenic answered "No, I was as sober as I am now. It is sick, isn't it?". A detective involved in the case and a forensic psychologist later opined that the killers' motivation went beyond robbery and stemmed from envy and resentment of Sweeney's relative success in life.

#jason sweeney #construction worker #fishtown

Lured to a wooded area of Fishtown, Pennsylvania, on 30th May 2003, 16-year-old Jason Sweeney was beaten to death for his $500 pay cheque. The assailants were 18-year-old Edward Batzig Jr, who was Sweeney’s best friend, and brothers Domenic and Nicholas Coia, aged 19 and 18 respectively. Led to the area by the promise of sex with 15-year-old Justina Morley, once he arrived Sweeney was brutally attacked by the trio, who beat the boy to death with a hatchet, rock, and a hammer. When they had finished beating him, the teenagers dropped a boulder onto Sweeney’s head, crushing it completely. Autopsy later revealed that the only bone left undamaged on the young man’s face was his left cheekbone, and his face was so badly disfigured that Sweeney had to be identified with dental records. The 4 teenagers split the money and used it to buy drugs, with Morley later admitting that she had also had sex with both Batzig and Nicholas Coia in exchange for heroin just days prior to the murder.

Batzig and the Coia brothers were all sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After pleading guilty to third degree murder, Morley was sentenced to 17.5 to 35 years in prison in exchange for her testimony against the 3 boys. In a jailhouse letter to Domenic Coia, Morley wrote:

‘I'm a cold-blooded [expletive] death-worshiping bitch who survives by feeding off the weak and lonely. I lure them, and then I crush them…I am guilty. But I still don't feel guilty for anything. . . . I still enjoy my flashbacks. They give me comfort. I love them.’

Batzig and Nicholas Coia have both since been granted re-sentencing due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on mandatory life sentences for juveniles. In 2015, Coia was once again sentenced to life without parole.