PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A woman has admitted to killing a SEPTA bus driver as he drove his route nearly three years ago in the city’s Germantown neighborhood.
Zhontay Capers pleaded guilty on Monday to third-degree murder in the shooting death of Bernard Gribbin.
In October 2023, at Abbotsford Road and Germantown Avenue, Gribbin was shot six times in the chest as he was operating a Route 23 bus. He died at the hospital.
Capers — who was expected to go to trial Monday on first-degree murder — instead took an open plea deal with prosecutors. She also pleaded guilty to several gun and reckless endangerment charges.
Zhontay CapersPhiladelphia Police Department
Part of the sentencing hearing took place on Monday, but the rest will occur in October after a pre-sentence investigation.
Gribbin spent 12 years as a SEPTA bus driver. The 48-year-old Army veteran was considered the “heart” of his family.
The courtroom was packed with family, friends and fellow SEPTA drivers during Monday’s hearing.
