2022: Top 5 Stories On West Chester Patch

WEST CHESTER, PA — The year 2022 was not like any other year.
As the pandemic was winding down, the nation was working to get back on track.
Divisive politics ramped up as mask mandates and travel restrictions subsided.
Patch continued to provide you with the local news, ranging from police, politics, education, and courts, to transportation, new businesses and more.
Here are the 2022 five most read stories in West Chester and nearby.

• 1 ) Fatal Stabbing Victim At Lincoln University Was Caring: Jawine Evans, 21, was fatally stabbed on the campus of Lincoln University on Feb. 16 in a brawl that broke out in a dormitory in Lower Oxford Township. Evans was a senior due to graduate in May. Nydira Smith, 39, is in Chester County Prison awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder. She is also charged with injuring two other students, Clifton Walker, 22, and Eric Dickerson, also 22. Smith is the sister of a Lincoln University student involved in the fight.

Evans mother, Beverly Evans, said in a Dec. 27 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Jawine was the light of the family. This was a kid everyone looked up to. I looked up to him. My husband looked up to him. He was just that type of kids with a great mentality and inspiration." His mother, Shawn Battle, said in the sports story about Battle going to play football at Boston College, that his brother made him a a better person, within football and outside of football.

• 2) Reaction to Roe v. Wade Being Overturned: The story was the overall most read in Chester County. It focused on local lawmakers' reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision to return the decision of when and whether a woman can get an abortion back to the states. The reactions from the Democratic lawmakers, including Gov. Tom Wolf and Governor-elect Attorney General Josh Shapiro, and the locals including U.S. Rep Chrissy Houlahan, state Reps. Mary Scanlon, Melissa Shusterman, Dan Williams, Christina Sappey came in very fast. Republican lawmakers did not respond so fast. The story also contains the view of Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Perez and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
• 3) Brother Charged In Death Of 4-year-old In Chester County: Victor Lara-Ortiz, 18, is charged with involuntary manslaughter in brother’s shooting death; another man accused of straw gun purchase. Police said Lara-Ortiz left a loaded firearm unsecured on his bedroom table. The boy, Roman Aguilera-Ortiz, died of an accidental self-inflicted wound. A co-defendant William Thomas is charged with illegally purchasing and transferring a weapon to Lara Oritz pleaded guilty on Nov. 29 to involuntary manslaughter and is scheduled for sentencing in February.
• 4) 400+ Rally In West Chester Urging Laws To End Gun Violence Hundreds rallied outside the Historic Chester County Courthouse on Saturday, June 4, calling on lawmakers to strengthen gun safety laws or resign. The rally was called in response to the May 24 Uvalde, Texas Massacre in which 18 children and two adults were killed. Chester County Commissioner Josh Maxwell called for legislation to strengthen gun safety to end gun violence. The advocates for gun safety wore orange T-shirts to demand a future free of violence and symbolize those killed by guns.
• 5) Chester County Court Petitions Call For Ouster of School Boards. A parent of a West Chester Area School District student petitioned Chester County Court to remove the school board members over the district’s requirement for the students to wear masks. Beth Ann Rosica filed the petition. Judge William P. Mahon on March 29 removed the school board members over a procedural matter involving the response to the lawsuit. The judge later vacated the order as the mandate was lifted due to lower levels of coronavirus outbreaks. The school board members left the courthouse relieved.