Penn Wood football star's name is cleared, but killer is still at large

January 17, 2018 | Samantha Melamed | The Philadelphia Inquirer

It’s been over a year since someone shot and killed Zion Vaughan, a Penn Wood High School linebacker with aspirations to play college football. Yeadon police have not made any arrests. But last year, they did offer a theory of the case: They told the state’s Victim Compensation Assistance Program they believe Vaughan had been dealing drugs and thereby brought the killing on himself.

Vaughan’s grandfather Thomas Vaughan, who had applied for the victim assistance to help cover funeral expenses, has been fighting to clear his grandson’s name since. This month, a hearing officer for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency found in his favor: Zion, the officer determined, appeared to be not a criminal but the victim of a robbery gone wrong.

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Does bias linger after death?

October 18, 2017 | Samantha Melamed | Philadelphia Inquirer

It is closing in on a year since Thomas Vaughan, 73, watched his grandson Zion step out the front door of his Yeadon home for the last time. Zion, a popular Penn Wood High School senior and a linebacker on the school’s football team, was killed less than a block from his home by a single gunshot to his back.

At the time, police told reporters there was no apparent motive. They still have not arrested a suspect.

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Even in death, families say, black men face bias

October 16, 2017 | Samantha Melamed | Philadelphia Daily News

It is closing in on a year since Thomas Vaughan, 73, watched his grandson Zion step out the front door of his Yeadon home for the last time. Zion, a popular Penn Wood High School senior and a linebacker on the school’s football team, was killed less than a block from his home by a single gunshot to his back.At the time, police told reporters there was no apparent motive. They still have not arrested a suspect.

Yet when Vaughan applied to the state Victims Compensation Assistance Program for the $6,500 in funeral expenses available for homicide victims, the application was rejected. The reason: His grandson, who had no criminal record, had been involved in an illegal activity that caused his murder.

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