Former Temple U. cops found guilty of brutalizing, killing Philadelphia woman
Aaron Wright and Marquis Robinson beat Joyce Quaweay to death in a home she shared with them
Two former Temple University police officers were convicted Wednesday of murder after the men tag-teamed to brutally beat a 24-year-old mother to death in what prosecutors called a “degrading, diabolical torture chamber.”
Aaron Wright and Marquis Robinson were abusive and controlling, prosecutors argued in court Wednesday and with a baton in hand, she thrust down to show the horrific striking motions that ended Joyce Quaweay’s life, reports Philly.com.
Wright, 49, and Robinson, 43 were convicted on all charges including third-degree murder, conspiracy, and related offenses in Quaweay’s July 29, 2016, beating death.
“They were taking this (baton), and coming over their head, and beating and beating and beating Joyce,” the Assistant District Attorney Chesley Lightsey said loudly in her closing argument at the two men’s nonjury trial. She held the baton above her head and repeatedly swung it down.
READ MORE: Trump admin says it contacted James Shaw, but the phone never rang on his end
“She was handcuffed, naked,” Lightsey said. Then men laid her face down on a weight bench and she was tied up by her hands and feet and repeatedly beat.
Quaweay, who was Wright’s girlfriend, shared a home with him in the Germantown section of Philadelphia with Robinson, his girlfriend and kids.
One of the children testified and said she witnessed Quaweay being brutally beaten on occasion. The 12-year-old said that she’d been beaten as well. Leaving a napkin on a plate instead of putting it in the trash, once subjected her to a brutal beat down, she said.
Robinson’s girlfriend testified saying if Quaweay was being beaten, it was likely because she didn’t comply with one of their commands.
READ MORE: Hate Crime: White man screams “N—-R” and punches Black student over parking space
The attorneys for the men tried to argue that Quaweay died of heart failure, but Common Pleas Court Judge Diana Anhalt judge was unconvinced. Sentencing is set for July 20.
