On the afternoon of Jan. 10, Walter went to West Philadelphia to meet two 16-year-olds. One allegedly was Kaseem Reese, a Kensington High student, who Walter told police he had known for more than a year.
But, according to the police report, 10 teens confronted him and insisted he fight them one by one. When he collapsed, they surrounded him, and he was stabbed in the head, neck, and arm and robbed of his cell phone.
At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he was treated for stab wounds, a cut lip, and a fractured eye socket that required surgery. Walter's uncle, Juan Frazier, said he had no permanent damage.
Reese, who lives on Jasper Street in Kensington, and 16-year-old Syhema Whitted, of South 61st Street in West Philadelphia, are charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, terroristic threats, and other offenses.
Charged with aggravated assault, robbery, criminal conspiracy, and other offenses are a third 16-year-old, Shakur Saulsbury, and two 18-year-olds, Joseph Scruggs and Justin Felix, all of West Philadelphia.
Raymond Driscoll, an attorney for Reese, said a prosecutor had stated the attack could have been gang-related, but added that he had seen no evidence of that.
Paul Goldman, the assistant district attorney overseeing the case, declined to comment.
A preliminary hearing is set for April 20.
Interviewed last summer, Walter said he was intent on beating the "statistics."
"If I don't continue to do what I have to do to get out of here, I'll be like everyone else - and I'm not," he said.
The violence in the city saddened him.
"You hear about guys dying every day, for what?"
His uncle said Walter at times seemed unaware of danger around him. The teen walked out of church one night and seemed oblivious to gunfire nearby, Frazier recalled.
"I am aware!" Walter argued at the time. "I've been aware since second grade."
Contact staff writer Susan Snyder at 215-854-4693 or ssnyder@phillynews.com.
