NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man had a specific intent to kill when he fired a single, fatal gunshot at an unarmed Chester County man with whom he had an angry exchange during a child custody transfer in the borough, a prosecutor argued to a jury.
“This was something he thought about in the minutes leading up to the murder. He took a loaded gun to a custody exchange with his 12-year-old daughter,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Courtney McMonagle argued during her opening statement to a jury as the homicide trial for Kevin Maurice Morgan got underway on Tuesday.
Morgan, 35, of the 500 block of May Street, is charged with first- and third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering other persons and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the alleged 7:13 p.m. June 27, 2023, fatal shooting of Derek Mayo, 38, of Parkesburg.
“He not only intended to take Derek’s life he put others’ lives in danger too,” McMonagle argued, referring to two children and two other adults who were present during the shooting. “Derek’s murder was willful, deliberate and premeditated. His actions speak of his intent.”
The fatal shooting occurred in the area of May and Hale streets, a short distance from Morgan’s home in Pottstown, as Morgan was transferring custody of his 12-year-old daughter to her mother, Kelsay Love-Sheller. Mayo, who was dating Love-Sheller, was a passenger in Love-Sheller’s vehicle and a confrontation erupted between Mayo and Morgan at that time, according to testimony.
McMonagle, who is handling the case with co-prosecutor Allison Ruth, argued the specific intent to kill, a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction, “can happen in the blink of an eye, the snap of a finger.”
But defense lawyer John Han suggested Morgan believed Mayo was armed and that Morgan acted in self-defense when Mayo charged at him while stating, “You want some of this?” Han argued that Morgan acted “to stop Derek Mayo from doing harm to his family,” referring to Morgan’s pregnant wife, Julise, who also was present during the custody transfer.
“That’s why he acted the way he did, to protect himself and his family,” Han argued to the jury during his opening statement.
Han suggested prosecutors are “cherry-picking” the evidence and telling only “half the story.” Han claimed Mayo threatened Morgan and assaulted him in the past and that Mayo was not permitted to be alone with the 12-year-old daughter Morgan shared with Love-Sheller. Han argued Morgan was caught off guard when he saw that Mayo accompanied Love-Sheller to the custody exchange.
Han explained Morgan had a license to carry a firearm legally and carried one since experiencing a “traumatic, horrific event” in January 2012 when he witnessed the fatal shooting of a childhood friend after a night out at a West Chester bar. Morgan, who testified as a prosecution witness against the person convicted of that homicide in Chester County Court, suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety and lived with a fear that “somebody is going to do harm to him,” Han argued.
“He lives in a world of fear. Kevin has armed himself with a gun, every day, everywhere he goes because of what happened 10 years ago. That was his ritual, that was his custom,” Han addressed the jury of six men and six women.
The trial before Judge William R. Carpenter is expected to last several days.
A conviction of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, or a hardness of heart, cruelty or recklessness of consequences, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
Morgan’s 12-year-old daughter testified that her father escorted her to her mother’s vehicle for the custody transfer and that as she entered the rear seat of Love-Sheller’s car she heard Morgan make a derogatory comment while questioning why Love-Sheller brought Mayo to the custody transfer.
“My dad started arguing with Derek and my mom,” the little girl testified, occasionally using a tissue to dab tears from her eyes.
The girl testified that after Love-Sheller moved the vehicle forward, Mayo told her to “Stop” and she saw Mayo exit the front passenger seat and walk toward the rear of the vehicle. The girl testified she did not see the shooting. But the girl broke down in tears when she recalled hearing Mayo shout that he had been shot.
Jurors also viewed a videotape of an interview conducted by child social workers of the girl a day after the shooting, which was consistent with the testimony she gave on Tuesday.
The investigation began about 7:13 p.m. June 27 when Pottstown police responded to a report of a shooting in the 500 block of May Street. A 911 call was made by Love-Sheller, who reported that her boyfriend, Mayo, had been shot, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective James Lavin and Pottstown Detective Adrian Stead.
Arriving officers found Mayo lying in the roadway on Hale Street just south of May Street, between the curb and the passenger side of a Kia Optima vehicle, “suffering an obvious gunshot wound to the chest,” Lavin and Stead wrote in the criminal complaint.
Police noted that Mayo “was not armed with any type of weapon.”
Love-Sheller approached police at the scene and pointed to Morgan’s May Street home and said, “My baby dad just shot him, he’s in that house,” according to the criminal complaint.
Morgan complied with police commands to come out of the residence and when he was asked “Where is the gun?” Morgan replied, “In the house,” according to the arrest affidavit. Morgan also told police there were children inside the residence.
During an initial search of the home, police found two semi-automatic handguns in a second-floor bedroom.
After a search warrant was obtained, police found a total of six guns in the house, five of them semi-automatic pistols, according to the affidavit of probable cause. One of them, a Taurus G2C, was found with an empty cartridge jammed in the barrel and police believe it is the murder weapon, court documents indicate.
Morgan’s wife, Julise, told police her husband, “owns multiple firearms and carries a gun on his person on a regular basis,” according to court papers. All the guns found by police were legally owned by Morgan, police said.
Morgan allegedly made several statements to the first responding officers that it was “self-defense,” according to court papers.
Mayo was taken to Pottstown Hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined Mayo’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest and the manner of death was ruled homicide.
The investigation determined that Mayo arrived at the scene in the Kia Optima operated by Love-Sheller, his girlfriend of seven years, who arrived at Morgan’s residence to pick up her daughter with whom she shared custody with Morgan, according to court papers.
During the custody exchange, Morgan approached Love-Sheller’s vehicle with his daughter and got into a verbal dispute with Mayo, who stepped out of the vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.
During the verbal altercation, Morgan pulled out a gun and shot Mayo, detectives alleged.
A witness to the shooting told detectives the victim did not make any motion during the argument that warranted “that response by the shooter,” according to court documents.
