PHILADELPHIA. In an emotional day of testimony, jurors yesterday watched surveillance video of Officer Chuck Cassidy’s murder and heard from three eyewitnesses, including a Dunkin Donuts employee who tried to warn Cassidy before he was gunned down.
John “Jordan” Lewis, 23, is on trial for Cassidy’s Oct. 31, 2007 death. Lewis pleaded guilty to the murder, but jurors must determine whether he is guilty of first-degree murder and deserves the death penalty or second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence.
Khrystal Yang, an employee at the Dunkin Donuts on the 6600 block of North Broad Street, was standing outside when Lewis entered. Yang said she recognized the heavy-set, tattooed man from a Sept. 18, 2007 robbery. When she saw Cassidy pull up moments later in his police vehicle, she thought help had arrived.
“I thought someone had called the police and everything was going to be OK,” Yang said, “then it just wasn’t really OK.”
Yang briefly broke down as she recalled trying to warn Cassidy as he entered the store.
“I tried to tell him,” she said, her voice trailing off.
Cassidy’s widow, Judy, is expected to testify tomorrow when prosecutors are expected to rest their case.
