By Stephanie Farr and Dafney Tales
Philadelphia Daily News
PHILADELPHIA — As first responders and police flooded a Mayfair street Sunday night during the Super Bowl, many nearby residents suspected that a game-day rivalry had gone wrong.
But, in reality, the mayhem on Bleigh Avenue near Crispin Street allegedly started with an off-duty cop placing a gun on a table and tragically ended with another man being charged with the murder of the cop's brother-in-law.
Christopher Donaghy, 27, the son of a Philadelphia police officer, had invited about eight friends and family members to his home on Bleigh Avenue for a Super Bowl party in his basement, according to police.
Donaghy's brother-in-law Christopher Surma, 29, an off-duty Plymouth Township police officer at the party, allegedly placed a gun he owned on a table sometime during the game, city homicide Capt. James Clark said.
Another guest at the party, Ronald Parncutt, 49, who lives two doors away from Donaghy, picked up the unattended weapon and "started toying with it," Clark said.
The 9 mm semiautomatic Glock, which lacked an external safety, discharged once while in Parncutt's hands, striking Donaghy in the back around 8:52 p.m. while he watched the game, Clark said.
Donaghy was taken to Frankford Hospital-Torresdale, where he was pronounced dead at 10:09 p.m., said Officer Tanya Little, police spokeswoman.
According to a police source, Donaghy was the son of John Donaghy Jr., an officer with the 14th District, headquartered on West Haines Street near Germantown Avenue, in Germantown.
Parncutt, whom police described as "very, very" cooperative and "extremely" remorseful, was arrested and charged with murder and related offenses early yesterday morning.
Surma, the 2 1/2-year Plymouth Township Police Department veteran who left his gun unattended, has not been charged.
Pam Ewing, 45, who lives cata-corner from Donaghy and Parncutt, said that Parncutt and his family would always attend the "big, loud, noisy" parties at Donaghy's house.
"Those two houses definitely functioned together," she said. "They would combine parties."
Ewing said that Parncutt seemed "very nice" and would clean up outside after parties, picking up cigarette butts and firecracker remnants.
Clark said that he couldn't say why Surma had taken the gun, which was not his service weapon, out of the holster and placed it on a table, but said that the District Attorney's Office is looking into the case to see if charges should be filed.
Plymouth Township Police Chief Joseph Lawrence said that Surma has been placed on administrative duty pending an internal investigation.
Disciplinary measures will hinge on the outcome of the Philadelphia investigation, he said.
"Like everybody, I think it's a tragic thing," Lawrence said. "It's all family and friends involved."
Lawrence said that Surma is "pretty stressed" over what happened to his sister's husband.
Clark said that leaving a gun unattended or playing with a gun you've found are just things "you can't do."
"It's a total tragedy that something like this would happen, you know, during a festive time as the Super Bowl," he said. "It's just something that should not have ever happened."
Neighbor Angel Nejman, 20, said that he didn't learn until yesterday morning what caused the police activity that kept him running between his door and his television Sunday night.
"I just thought somebody got into a fight over the game or some stupid stuff," he said. "Now that I know, that just ruins the Super Bowl."
Copyright 2009 Philadelphia Daily News
