LANCASTER, PA – Investigators testified this week that Geraldo Rosario confronted a neighbor earlier this month and, as a result, the neighbor was shot to death. Rosario, 57, was ordered to face counts of criminal homicide and reckless endangerment in Lancaster County Court, following a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Adam Witkonis.

District Judge Witkonis bound over the case after three Lancaster city police investigators testified about the Oct. 3 altercation on Josean Martinez’s porch in the 600 block of High Street. Martinez was fatally shot in the chest. Rosario, who lived a block away from the victim, is at Lancaster County Prison without bail.

He is presumed innocent. Assistant District Attorney Christine L. Wilson presented testimony from Officers J. Hatfield and Benjamin Detwiler and Detective Toby Hickey during the hour-long hearing. A juvenile, outside at the time of the shooting, witnessed what happened. Responding officers found Martinez wounded just inside his home. Rosario also was there, kneeling over Martinez, who stumbled inside after being shot. Rosario’s formal arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 13.

Sourced via CRIMEWATCH®: https://lancaster.crimewatchpa.com/da/11617/post/testimony-neighbor-confrontation-led-fatal-shooting-lancaster-city-porch

A convicted killer’s bid to withdraw his guilty plea was recently rejected by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Niziere Dean pleaded guilty last year to third-degree murder for shooting Edward Cameron on a Lancaster city street in 2015. A grand jury preceded charges being filed against Dean and co-defendant, Kyaire Thompson-Brown. Both men pleaded to the same charges and received the same negotiated sentence: 15 to 30 years in prison.

Dean, 24, is requesting appeal relief, arguing his guilty plea was not voluntary and that he was coerced to plead because Thompson-Brown’s fate was tied to his acceptance of the plea offer. The state appellate court rejected that argument, finding that a Lancaster County Judge thoroughly questioned Dean before accepting the plea terms. During the plea hearing, Dean told the judge he was pleading to third-degree murder to avoid a potential first-degree murder conviction (and life sentence) at trial. Cameron was shot at least 13 times on Sept. 7, 2015, following a dispute at the Rainmaker’s Club at 700 East Chestnut St.

The subpoena powers of a grand jury provided valuable testimony about what took place and who was involved. Police determined Dean fired a 9mm pistol, Thompson-Brown fired a .22-caliber pistol, and Rahdir Maxton (who was killed two days later) fired a .45-caliber pistol. Shell casings of those calibers were recovered at the scene. Lancaster city police Detective Sgt. Nathan Nickel filed charges. Assistant District Attorney Gregory Seiders represented the Commonwealth in the recent post-conviction matters.

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PHILADELPHIA,PA –  District Attorney Larry Krasner on Monday issued the following statement on the fatal police shooting of a civilian in West Philadelphia:

“The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office takes its obligation to try to be fair and to seek evenhanded justice seriously. The DAO Special Investigations Unit responded to today’s fatal shooting of a civilian by police shortly after it occurred, and has been on scene with other DAO personnel since that time investigating, as we do jointly with the PPD Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Unit, in shootings and fatalities by other means involving police. We intend to go where the facts and law lead us and to do so carefully, without rushing to judgment and without bias of any kind.

“People who witnessed this incident or have information they believe to be relevant to this investigation are encouraged to contact the District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit hotline: 215–686–9608.”

“In the hours and days following this shooting, we ask Philadelphians to come together to uphold people’s freedom to express themselves peacefully and to reject violence of any kind.”

NORRISTOWN, PA – Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Norristown Police Chief Mark E. Talbot announce the arrest of Rashaan Stevenson, 34, of Reading, on charges of First-Degree Murder in the home invasion homicide of Alonzo J. Anthony on April 2, 2019, in Norristown. He is the second man arrested for this murder.

Norristown Police were dispatched at 10:53 p.m., April 2, 2019, to 307 Fornance Street for a reported shooting. Arriving officers located Anthony in the hallway of his residence deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. A joint investigation by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau and the Norristown Police found that two masked men entered the apartment, fired shots that struck and killed Anthony, and fled from the residence with cash, marijuana and a cellphone.

On Sept. 28, 2019, Brandon M. Thompson was arrested and charged with Second-Degree Murder, Third-Degree Murder, Burglary, Robbery, Person Not to Possess a Firearm and multiple other charges. Since then, detectives have continued to investigate the second man seen in surveillance video running from the apartment. The investigation revealed that Stevenson traveled with co-defendant Thompson from Stevenson’s residence in Reading to the victim’s residence in Norristown and then back again at the time of the murder. Additionally, at 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 215 pounds, Stevenson matches the description of the second man seen in surveillance video running from Anthony’s apartment following the murder.

Stevenson is charged with First-Degree Murder, Second-Degree Murder, Third-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Burglary, Robbery, Person Not to Possess a Firearm and multiple other charges. He was arraigned today before Magisterial District Judge Gregory Scott. No bail is available for First-Degree Murder, and he was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 11:45 a.m., Nov. 4, 2020 before Magisterial District Judge Margaret Hunsicker.

NORRISTOWN, PA – One month after dismantling a gun trafficking organization that had purchased 44 guns, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced the arrests of five Norristown residents on multiple charges related to straw purchases of 15 firearms and illegally transferring firearms in another gun trafficking organization.

The gun trafficking organization was run by Henry Harris Jr., 33, a convicted felon who was not allowed legally to purchase, own or even handle a firearm. Harris enlisted four others into his gun trafficking organization, directing them on which guns to buy on his behalf: Lynwood Wilford Jr., 29, who purchased 11 guns; Jaime Winslow, 40, who purchased two firearms; and Jahlesia Clark, 21, and Sara Travis, 49, who each purchased one firearm. The 15 straw purchases were made in Montgomery County and Philadelphia between Aug. 19 and Oct. 6, 2020. Six firearms have been recovered.
A “straw purchase” is when a person with a clean background purchases firearms specifically on behalf of another person to conceal the true ownership of the firearm. Persons who are unable to legally purchase a firearm would include convicted felons, domestic violence misdemeanants, juveniles and mentally ill individuals.

The investigation began in September after Montgomery County Detectives reviewed required ATF paperwork related to the purchases of multiple firearms by one individual. There were indications that these were straw purchases. Using investigative techniques that included interviews, surveillance footage, cellphone data analysis, firearm transaction records and other investigative means, detectives found that Harris was working with Wilford, Clark, Travis and Winslow to obtain firearms illegally by directing their purchases of firearms and then illegally providing them to other people.

“This is another organization that is putting guns in the hands of criminals. These illegal firearms are a significant threat to our communities and to our safety,” said Steele. “Law enforcement in Montgomery County are committed to tracking down these gun traffickers and stopping them. It’s important for everyone to know that someone who buys a gun legally and gives it to or sells it to someone else, is in violation of firearms laws and will face jail time. It’s not worth the meager amount of money these traffickers will pay.”

This investigation was led by the Montgomery County Detective Bureau’s Violent Crime Unit (VCU) with assistance from the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General’s Gun Violence Task Force, the FBI’s Bucks and Montgomery County Safe Streets Task Force, the Pennsylvania State Police, Norristown Police Department, Warminster Township Police Department, Bensalem Police Department and West Norriton Township Police Department.

The defendants were charged with varying crimes, but all include felony counts of Corrupt Organizations and Conspiracy. Other charges include Dealing in Proceeds of Unlawful Activities, Receiving Stolen Property, Unlawful Transfer of a Firearm, Criminal Use of Communications Facilities, Materially False Statements and multiple related offenses.

The defendants were arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Marc A. Alfarano. He set bail at $99,000 cash for Harris, $99,000 unsecured for Wilford and $50,000 unsecured for Clark, Travis and Winslow. Harris failed to make bail and was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m., Nov. 2, 2020, in front of Judge Alfarano.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Arena of the Firearms Unit.
CRIMINAL CHARGES, AND ANY DISCUSSION THEREOF, ARE MERELY ALLEGATIONS AND ALL DEFENDANTS ARE PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL AND UNLESS PROVEN GUILTY.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA – Bucks County detectives are looking to identify the operators and occupants of three vehicles that were in the area of Nockamixon State Park around the time of the fatal Oct. 24, 2020 shooting of 18-year-old Jason A. Kutt. Detectives want to speak to the owners/operators of the three vehicles as potential witnesses, after receiving information from a witness they were seen parked or traveling on or near Old Ridge Road around the time of the 5:15 shooting.

Below are the descriptions of the vehicles:

Chevrolet S-10 Blazer SUV Color: Champagne Model Year: 2000

Toyota Camry or Avalon Sedan Color: Silver Model Year: 2000

Mercedes SUV (Possibly a GLS350) Color: Black Model Year: Unknown

Kutt, 18, of Sellersville, had been sitting with his girlfriend at the edge of the lake, waiting for the sun to set, when he was shot once in the back of the head, around 5:15 p.m. He was pronounced dead early Monday, Oct. 26, 2020 The shooting happened near the Old Ridge Road access to the state park, across from the marina at Lake Nockamixon.

Kutt’s girlfriend (name withheld due to minor status and privacy concerns) told authorities she saw a man in an orange vest, which she described as hunting clothing, standing behind a yellow gate at Old Ridge Road, looking in their direction. The investigation found that the distance from that gate to where Kutt and his girlfriend were sitting was 550 feet away. Police from throughout Upper Bucks County, including a K9 and a State Police helicopter searched the area and did not locate any persons of interest. At a news conference on Monday, District Attorney Matt Weintraub pleaded with the public to help track down the shooter and find out what happened at the state park. “We need to understand how Jason Kutt died and we need your help to do that.” Anyone with any information concerning this incident is asked to contact the Bucks County Detectives at 215-348-6868 or 215-340-8140, or they can send a tip at https://bucks.crimewatchpa.com/da/submit-tip.

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