Philadelphia: 45 years in prison for the murder of Haitian journalist and poet Schultz Laurent Junior

Scott Matthew Hilton, 49, was sentenced by a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday, November 3, to 45 years in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Haitian journalist and poet Schultz Laurent Junior, Le Nouvelliste reports. "He broke down in tears when the sentence was handed down," a member of the victim's family told the newspaper. The Guadeloupe channel ETV reports the same sentence.

Schultz Laurent Junior, 51, was stabbed on the morning of Tuesday, October 28, 2025, on Wadsworth Avenue, in the Cedarbrook section of East Mount Airy, Philadelphia. He had just gotten off a bus and was walking to the restaurant where he worked, June's Kitchen, according to 6abc and NBC Philadelphia. Two men who were cleaning the street gave him CPR; he died shortly afterwards at the hospital. Police arrested Scott Hilton the next day. They did not give a motive, and the family believed the victim had been targeted at random.

Teacher, journalist and poet

Schultz Laurent Junior was a teacher, journalist and poet, and had written for Le Nouvelliste and other media in Haiti. He wrote several collections of poems, including "Bouquet d'amour," "Et si mon cœur te chantait" and "Sur les traces de l'aube," according to Le Nouvelliste. An Abington resident, he had been in the United States for less than two years after fleeing violence in Haiti, his family told 6abc. He hoped to teach French at a college once he became fluent in English. He leaves behind his wife and three children, the youngest just 3 years old.

"He escaped the horrors of Haiti only to be killed here in the U.S., where he was promised to be safe," his niece, Alexandra Belly, told 6abc after his death.