Daily News paper seller slain in his apartment

BY STEPHANIE FARR, Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: August 15, 2012

AMAR STANLEY made a living selling newspapers, including the Daily News, on the North Philadelphia street where he lived.

But instead of selling papers today, he's inside their pages, for all the wrong reasons.

Stanley, 63, was shot twice in the chest and once in his right hip in the second-floor apartment where he lived alone on Lehigh Avenue near 22nd Street about 4 a.m. Monday, police said. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 4:23 a.m.

Police don't know who shot Stanley but they said the motive was robbery. They didn't divulge what, if anything, was stolen.

Neighbors said that Stanley would usually emerge from his house every morning about the time he was killed and take his place in the center of Lehigh Avenue, where he'd sling copies of the Daily News and Inquirer to passing motorists and pedestrians.

But people didn't just come to Stanley for the papers. They came to him for conversation, said neighbor Raymond McCall.

"Once he set up, he'd have other people sitting around talking to him," said McCall, 26. "He'd just draw people to him."

Mark Block, spokesman for Interstate General Media, owners of the Daily News and Inquirer, extended condolences to Stanley's family.

"His death in our community is tragic," Block said in a statement, noting that Stanley worked for a contractor who buys newspapers for resale. "We hope the police are able to solve this unspeakable crime."

Willie Gilchrist, 69, said that he was saddened but not shocked by the slaying of his neighbor.

"He sold his newspapers and did his thing," Gilchrist said. "It's a shame, but it happens in the city, especially this one."

Contact Stephanie Farr at 215-854-4225 or farrs@phillynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @FarFarrAway and read her blog, PhillyConfidential.com.