A Philadelphia judge on Friday agreed to dismiss all criminal counts against Leonard Keith Hill, the founder of Hill & Associates, in the 2023 shooting outside a Center City cigar bar. The move came just days before Hill was set for a bench trial and abruptly pulled the plug on a closely watched case. Prosecutors dropped aggravated assault and related weapons and tampering charges. Hill’s attorneys have maintained he acted in self-defense, while prosecutors declined to comment on why they backed away from the case. The prosecution had already drawn scrutiny after the district attorney’s office pursued an unusually structured diversion deal last year.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case Friday morning, shortly before Hill, 56, was scheduled to appear before Common Pleas Judge J. Scott O’Keefe. The Inquirer reports that the tossed counts included aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of a crime, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and tampering with evidence.
Surveillance and evidence
Surveillance footage captured Hill opening fire and striking a 38-year-old man near the Ashton Cigar Bar on the 1500 block of Walnut Street, as reported by Axios. Police recovered .380-caliber ammunition outside the bar and later seized a gun box of the same caliber from Hill’s Bala Cynwyd home, and a bar manager helped identify Hill as the shooter.
Diversion offer drew criticism
Last year, the District Attorney’s Office sought to admit Hill to the city’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program in what prosecutors described as an outcome reflecting “unique, highly unusual” facts, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The proposed terms included probation, community service, surrendering the legally owned firearm and a $25,000 donation to an anti-violence group. Municipal Court Judge William Austin Meehan Jr. rejected that proposal in February 2025, and critics, including Keisha Hudson of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, argued the episode highlighted unequal treatment in the justice system.
Legal fallout and next steps
The criminal dismissal lifts the immediate threat of prison for Hill, but his professional future is not entirely off the hook. Pennsylvania’s rules for disciplinary enforcement allow the Disciplinary Board to investigate and impose sanctions ranging from reprimand to suspension or disbarment depending on the conduct, per the Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement. The outcome also leaves lingering questions about prosecutorial discretion and how high-profile cases are handled in Philadelphia. Axios notes the matter drew wide attention, in part because Hill is the brother of commentator Marc Lamont Hill, and the earlier diversion bid had already become a flash point in local coverage.
