PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A woman shot last year by a contractor hired by Philly’s Landlord-Tenant Office is back on her feet. She uses her experience now to fight for more fair housing practices in the city.
Thursday marked one year since Angel Davis was shot in the head during an attempt to evict her from the Girard Court Apartments in North Philadelphia. While Philadelphia’s sheriff does carry out evictions, the Landlord-Tenant Office, which is managed by an appointed private attorney, is a cheaper option. LTO evictions are performed by contracted, armed agents.
Asantewaa Nkrumah-Ture has seen Angel at every step of her recovery since Davis was shot. When she saw Davis walk without help into the Making Worlds Bookstore in West Philly ahead of a discussion of the Landlord Tenant Office and more, she was shocked.
“I’m an old school church sister, and I’m very thankful to God she is now able to walk without the walker,” said Nkrumah-Ture.
Davis was joined by her lawyer, Bethany Nikitenko, who filed a civil suit against the city over what happened on March 28, 2023.
“I think Angel has a very powerful story that demonstrates the severity of the situation in Philadelphia with respect to the way evictions are being conducted,” Nikitenko said.
“We need to continue the discussion, people need to know Angel’s story, understand what she went through, and realize this is a broken system that cannot continue.”
Davis spoke softly, but powerfully on her continued fight for justice. “I need everyone’s support even more and more, and together we can make this work, not only eviction [but] a lot of traumatizing situations that happen in the state of Pennsylvania,” she said.
“Pennsylvania is trying to sweep incidents like mine and other peoples’ under the rug, and I want that to stop.”
State Rep. Rick Krajewski was also in the crowd to watch Davis speak. He expressed his excitement over the city appearing to take tenants’ rights more seriously.
“The center of it is about justice for Angel Davis and for everyone who’s a victim of the LTO, but I also think we have an exciting organizing opportunity here to move towards more tenant protections and more pro-housing policy,” he said.
“I think it’s inspirational that someone has decided — even after the aftermath of something so traumatic and violent — to be in the public spotlight and to be part of this movement to get justice not just for her, but tenants in the city.”