Man acquitted in 2019 park death gets probation in 2nd case

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man acquitted in the shooting death of the son of a high-ranking police official during a brawl at a south Philadelphia park three years ago has been sentenced to probation in another case.

Tyquan Atkinson, 23, was acquitted in April of fatally shooting 20-year-old Nicholas Flacco, son of Chief Inspector Christopher Flacco, at a Phillies tailgate gathering in March 2019 in FDR park. The month before the verdict, he was convicted of having a knife in his jail cell while awaiting trial.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that he was expected to be released after a judge sentenced him Wednesday to 12 months probation.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of one to three years, citing pictures of him holding guns on two phones found in the cell. But defense attorney Evan Hughes suggested that prosecutors were seeking unduly harsh punishment following the loss in the murder case.

Hughes also noted that Atkinson had already been jailed for three years without bail while awaiting the murder trial and had served 90 days of solitary confinement for the knife infraction. Asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Atkinson said “I’m ready to go home. I miss my family.”