Kathryn Knott via Twitter
The three suspects charged in the attack on a gay couple in Philadelphia surrendered police on Wednesday morning, according to local reports.
Phillip Williams, 24, Kevin Harrigan, 26, and Katherine Knott, 24, were accompanied by their lawyers when they turned themselves into detectives to face two counts of aggravated assault charges and other offenses in connection with the brutal attack on two gay men in Center City on Sept. 11, Philly.com reported.
According to local ABC6, Knott's father is the chief of police in Chalfont, Pa., a town in Bucks County.
Neighbors there told the station they were not surprised by the charges against her, but didn't elaborate, the station said.
The trio, who are from the Bucks County suburbs just north of the city, were among a dozen young men and women out partying together when they encountered the gay men on the street and attacked them, authorities said.
Shouting homophobic slurs, the well-dressed crew pummeled the pair, busting one man's jaw.
PhiladelphiaPolice via YouTube
Both ended up the in hospital with facial fractures. The one man had to have his jaw wired shut.
Though there were 10 to 12 people involved in the attack, only Williams, Harrigan and Knott were charged.
Authorities said the reason for that would become clear in court as specifics about the beatdown were revealed, local ABC 6 reported.
In the aftermath, local leaders and gay rights advocates called on the crew to be charged with committing a hate crime.
That will not be the case, though, because hate crime statues in Pennsylvania don't' currently include crimes motivated by sexual orientation, Philly.com reported.
PhiladelphiaPolice via YouTube
The case made national news after it was revealed that social media sleuths had a hand in helping cops track down the suspects by matching pictures from social media postings with surveillance images.
On Tuesday, a friend of the victims' said the pair was asking the public to avoid adopting a lynch mob mentality toward the case.
'Three people's lives are about to change drastically and the victims are asking that everybody just keep their language respectful and not hateful,' t he friend, Caryn Kunkle, said.
'It's very emotionally taxing on them. They're still reliving it all. It's tough,' Kunkle said.
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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