They started taking back the streets in Chester yesterday.

It’s not going to be easy. Just how tough was proved by two incidents that happened after two suspects were arrested yesterday for the “stray-bullet” death of Kathy Stewart.

You can read all the details here.

But here’s what most impressed me. D.A. Mike Green made it clear the arrests were the result of people in the community coming forward and giving information to police.

Maybe the tide is turning.

Or maybe the senselessness of Stewart’s death finally struck a nerve.
Stewart was simply doing part of her daily routine, stopping at her ailing 85-year-old mother’s home to care for her. Stewart would stop every day and help her mom get cleaned, dressed and makes sure she’s taking her medicine. Her mom is battling cancer.

That’s what she was doing there Sunday night. Stewart, herself a mother of three, was resting on a bed chatting with her fiancee on a cell phone when gunshots rang out from the street outside. It’s an all too familiar sound to residents of the William Penn homes.

Incredibly, one of the bullets went through the wall of the home, through a headboard, and struck Stewart in the head. She was rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where she died the next day.

The community was outraged. They marched in the street.

But they did more than that. They did something police and city officials have been begging residents to do. They told them what they knew.

As a result, Dominique Smith, 19, of the 400 block of Gilbert Street in Trainer, and Abdult Johnson, 17, of the 1100 block of Curry Street in Chester, face a slew of charges including first-degree murder.

As officials announced the arrests, a crowd of 100 residents broke into cheers.

At a window above, Stewart’s ailing mother looked on as authorities announced charges against the two teens for snuffing out the life of her daughter.

Maybe it marks a turning point in the city’s war against street violence.

They have their work cut out for them.

Just hours after he was charged, the 17-year-old Johnson incredulously got another short taste of freedom.

As the unmarked police car sat at the entrance to Delaware County Prison, both officers got out to secure their weapons, as is standard procedure. At that point, a handcuffed Johnson managed to get into the front seat and take off.

He led officers on a wild chase back into Chester, where the pursuit ended when Johnson ran the car into the front porch of a house at Sixth and Highland.

And a few hours later, a familiar sound rang out on a Chester street.

A man was shot and killed just after 11 p.m. on the 1300 block of Crosby Street.

One step forward, two steps back.

But make no mistake. The people of Chester sent a message this week.
They no longer will tolerate the lawlessness and gunfire that riddle too many of their streets.

They will work with police and city officials to take back their streets.

And they will do it Kathy Stewart’s name.