Jury seated for trial of Pottstown man accused of fatally shooting Parkesburg man
NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man accused of fatally shooting a Chester County man during a domestic-related dispute in the borough has his jury.
Six men and six women were selected in Montgomery County Court on Monday to weigh the fate of Kevin Maurice Morgan, 35, of the 500 block of May Street, who 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.
The fatal shooting occurred in the area of May and Hale streets, a short distance from Morgan’s home in Pottstown.
Judge William R. Carpenter instructed the jury to return on Tuesday to hear the opening statements of the lawyers and testimony from the first witnesses in the case.
Morgan, who remains in jail without bail pending trial, did not comment to a reporter about the charges as he was led from court by sheriff’s deputies.
The trial 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.
Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth and co-prosecutor Courtney McMonagle are handling the case. Defense lawyer John Han represents Morgan.
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 Kelsay 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.
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