Biden commutes death sentence for Philadelphia drug lord who killed 12 people, including children

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, including a Philadelphia drug lord who was convicted of killing a dozen people.

Their punishments were converted to life in prison.

Biden said the decision was guided by his conscience, and comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.

“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has imposed on federal executions, in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden said.

One of those inmates is Kaboni Savage, who was convicted of killing 12 people, including four children.

The youngest victims died when Savage ordered the firebombing of the house where they lived in an act of retribution against a witness.

Family members of the children who died are devastated. That includes Tina Fox, who told Action News she is disappointed in the president.

Many of Fox’s relatives were murdered at Savage’s direction at a home on North 6th Street in 2004.

“This crime is beyond violent,” she said. “They were children. They would’ve been adults now but they don’t have a say. You can’t hear their voice. They were killed innocently.”

Fox’s cousin, Eugene Coleman, became a federal informant against Savage. The fire killed two adults, including Coleman’s mother, and four children, including an infant.

Savage was convicted of those murders that he ordered from prison. He was also found guilty in six other murders, including a man scheduled to testify against him and rival drug dealers.

Attorney Fortunato Perri Jr., who does not represent Savage, explained Biden’s announcement is not a surprise after seeing a major push by critics of the death penalty to abolish it nationwide.

“The national trend has been going away from the death penalty,” Perri told Action News.

Perri said Biden’s decision is final.

“That simply means that the individual will remain incarcerated with a life sentence, as opposed to an effort to have him executed down the road. That’s something now that can never happen,” Perri said.

In a statement, President Biden said he believes America must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level except in cases of terrorism and hate motivated mass murder. The three death row inmates that remain, he says, fit that category.