Recording Of Woman Screaming Stuns Philly Neighbors: Reports

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The sound of a woman screaming roared through a south Philadelphia neighborhood early in the morning this week, scaring and confusing local residents who were not aware that it was a part of an ongoing court case, according to local residents, officials, and media reports.

The screaming, which was blasted from a loudspeaker, occurred at around 5 a.m. on Monday near 15th and Mifflin streets, residents said in dozens of complaints across social media.

6ABC reports that it is related to a civil lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, after a man, Termaine Hicks, was convicted of rape in 2001 and spent 19 years in prison but was proven innocent of the crime in 2020.

The law firm Neufeld, Scheck, Brustin, Hoffmann, and Freudenberger is now representing Hicks in the wrongful conviction suit.

Neighbors soon found out what was going on and asked investigators to stop, but the screams continued on for at least another hour, according to an NBC Philadelphia report.

Neighbors told NBC10 that the event was "retraumatizing" for anyone who had experienced violent crime.

The city told the outlet that they had limited control over the event because it was organized by the law firm representing Hicks, and they would have needed a court order to make the event stop.

It's not clear why investigators chose to conduct the test so early in the morning.