A teenager has confessed to the random, violent attack and murder of Sabina Rose O'Donnell, according to police. And the motive? He wanted the bike she rode home on that night.
Donte Johnson, 18, was turned in by his mother late Tuesday, who was aware that homicide detectives were focusing their investigation on him.
A tip call came in last Friday from a woman who watched the surveillance video police released the day before. She gave police Johnson's name and address as the man she recognized in the video. Investigators then went to Johnson's North Philadelphia neighborhood to talk to him and say when they spotted him, he fled.
Johnson's mom called police Tuesday and arranged to bring him for questioning.
"The investigation has revealed that this heinous crime was a random attack and was actually started by the fact that Mr. Johnson wanted to take her bike and it escalated into what turned out to be a very violent and heinous murder," said Philadelphia Police Capt. James J. Clark.
O'Donnell, 20, was beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. She was dragged and her naked body was left in a vacant lot near her Northern Liberties home on June 2, 2010. She'd been out with friends earlier in the night and borrowed a girlfriend's bike to make the ride home, which is about ten blocks. Sabina was walking into her apartment building on N. 4th Street when she was attacked.
Following the attack, Johnson allegedly went inside O'Donnell's apartment complex and used a sink to wash up, police sources say. Sources tell NBC Philadelphia the teen's keys were found on the second floor.
Police say Johnson had been following Sabina on the bike that you see in the surveillance video. That video was captured shortly before the attack.
"My daughter Sabina Rose was a beautiful, magical woman," Sabina's mother Rachel said a few days after the murder. "She had a lot of people who cared about her."
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Friends of the late young woman were happy to hear about the arrest, but say it still doesn't bring her back.
"There's a sense of relief, but it's just kinda sinking in," friend Owen Kamihira said.
Local businesses including O'Donnell's former boss have decided to put together a memorial fund in her honor.
"We're a big family at work and it really affected us all," her former boss Tommy Up said. "We're trying to figure out how to turn this grief into something positive."
So far, the Sabina Rose O'Donnell Memorial Fund has raised $25,000. That's in addition to another $25,000 reward offered in the case. Organizers hope the funds can be used to make the neighborhood safer with the installation of additional security cameras. If you would like to make a donation visit this website.
Johnson is expected to be charged Wednesday with murder, rape and related offenses.
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