Three teenage males are being charged as adults for killing a 57-year-old man in north-east Philadelphia.
Police said Cullen was attacked by the teenagers just before 6 p.m. Sunday night, Nov. 26, in the Mayfair neighborhood.
One local resident tried to help Cullen after he was attacked.
“They were laughing, like it was funny,” that resident told Action News. “They hit his head into a wall so hard I felt it in my house on the second floor.”
Cullen died in hospital the next day.
The three teenagers are students at Mayfair high school and police are investigating their possible involvement in other assaults in the area.
Ryan said Cullen’s death was due to a blow to the head. He discussed the futility of what occurred.
“Committing robbery is not the answer for boredom,” he said.
“It shouldn’t be your rite of passage. It can have tragic consequences. This man died as a result of it and these three young men are going to jail for some time.”
Cullen was born and raised in the neighborhood and contrary to prior news reports, he was not homeless. He was well-known and well-liked by the local community, said Ryan.
“I wouldn’t characterize him as homeless; he was definitely bouncing from place to place, living with different people all the time,” Ryan said. “He was definitely well-known in the neighborhood. Frankly, we didn’t encounter any neighbors that had a bad thing to say about the man.”
The Inquirer reported that the police were alerted that a robbery was taking place at 5:50 p.m. and arrived on the scene to find Cullen unconscious on the sidewalk.
People from the local community held a vigil at the location where the attack was carried out. At the vigil, Cullen’s distraught family thanked those in the neighborhood who tried to help Cullen as he lay unconscious.
“Especially, the woman Donna who sat with him when he was dying. Glad somebody was there to show him compassion when he was dying,” said Tom Cullen, a brother of the deceased.
