NORRISTOWN — Three men accused of roles in the robbery and fatal shooting of a man in Norristown are fighting prosecutors’ plans to show a jury crime scene and autopsy photographs that depict the results of the deadly encounter.
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Jediah Grobstein revealed in court on Tuesday that prosecutors want to show a jury three crime scene photos and two autopsy photos when Damon Brantley Jr., Daquan Tyrone Allen and Jerry Lamar Butler stand trial in September on homicide- and robbery-related charges in connection with the alleged 7:49 p.m. Jan. 20, 2024, robbery and fatal shooting of William Carter in the unit block of West Wood Street in Norristown.
Grobstein argued the crime scene photos are relevant to give the jury a full and complete understanding of the remoteness of the location where the alleged murder occurred and show the location of Carter’s body in relation to fired cartridge casings that were found at the scene.
Grobstein, who is handling the case with co-prosecutor Meghan Carney, said two autopsy photos depicting the fatal head wound that Carter suffered would be used to establish the specific intent to kill held by Brantley, the accused shooter. Specific intent to kill is a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction.
“The autopsy photos are necessary to establish the specific intent to kill,” Grobstein argued during a pretrial hearing.
But the lawyers for Allen and Butler argued the photographs, particularly the autopsy photos, should not be admissible evidence against their clients because they are not charged with first-degree murder and therefore, specific intent to kill is not an issue in their cases.
“I don’t see the probative value in any of the pictures,” defense lawyer Nicholas Reifsnyder, who represents Allen, argued to Judge William R. Carpenter.
Defense lawyer Brooks Thompson, who represents Butler, argued the photos are of such a nature that they are extremely prejudicial and would “inflame” the jury.
Reifsnyder and Thompson argued that if the judge rules the autopsy photos are admissible as trial evidence, then Allen and Butler should have trials separate from Brantley.
Carney and Grobstein are seeking to consolidate the cases of all three men at one trial, which currently is slated to begin Sept. 3.
Prosecutors argued the autopsy photos will aid a forensic pathologist’s testimony at trial, to show the nature and extent of Carter’s injury, and will not inflame the passions of the jury.
Carpenter took the matter under advisement and will issue a ruling at a later date.
Brantley, Butler and Allen showed no emotion during the pretrial hearing at which the judge also heard arguments from the lawyers regarding several other issues, including the admissibility of various cellphone records linked to the defendants and the legality of search warrants carried out during the investigation.
The three men did not comment about the charges as they were escorted to and from the courtroom by sheriff’s deputies. They remain in the county jail without bail pending trial.
The courtroom was packed by relatives of the victim and the defendants.
Brantley, 18, the alleged shooter, of the 1000 block of West Beech Street, Norristown, faces charges of first- and second-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and multiple weapons offenses.
Brantley, who is represented by defense lawyer Evan Kelly, was 17 at the time of the alleged Jan. 20 robbery and killing but turned 18 seven days later.
Butler, 29, of the 500 block of East Clarkson Avenue, Philadelphia, who allegedly participated in robbing Carter, and Allen, 29, of the 500 block of Norris Street, Norristown, who was the alleged getaway driver during the deadly incident, each face charges of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit murder.
First-degree murder, an intentional killing, and second-degree murder, a killing committed during the course of a felony, such as robbery, carry mandatory life prison terms upon conviction.
Carney and Grobstein allege video and cellphone evidence linked the three men to the robbery and fatal shooting.
Defense lawyers have argued there is insufficient evidence to support the charges against the men.
Allen, Butler and Brantley were extradited to Montgomery County from Endicott, N.Y., where they were apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service several days after the alleged slaying.
A fourth male, Justin Lyaire Davis, 16, of the 300 block of East Brown Street, Norristown, previously was held for trial on homicide, robbery and conspiracy charges. Davis, who was charged as an adult because of the violent nature of the alleged offense, is represented by defense lawyer James P. Lyons. Davis is seeking to have his case transferred to juvenile court.
All four males are charged under accomplice liability theories.
A fifth person, Katherine Lynn Emel, 29, who was Carter’s girlfriend at the time, also is awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and robbery in connection with the incident.
With those charges, detectives alleged Emel, of the unit block of Richardson Street, Plymouth Township, told one of the robbers that Carter had recently won $3,000 while gambling and provided information regarding the Carter’s whereabouts on the night he was killed.
The investigation began about 7:53 p.m. Jan. 20 when Norristown police responded to the report of shots fired at West Wood and Powell streets. Arriving officers found Carter, 35, dead on the sidewalk on the west side of West Wood Street, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective John Wittenberger and Norristown Detective Stephen Sowell.
Carter suffered a gunshot wound to the head and authorities determined the fatal shooting occurred at 7:49 p.m. Investigators determined Carter possessed only a set of keys but no money and no cellphone.
The investigation determined Carter, who was unarmed, had left a nearby residence to get some money out of a white Buick LeSabre.
Investigators obtained video surveillance footage that depicted Carter leave the Buick, and as he crossed the street, three males, Brantley, Butler and Davis, exited a gray Toyota RAV-4 and ambushed and robbed Carter, detectives alleged.
The fourth male, Allen, remained in the driver’s seat of the Toyota, according to court papers.
After the three suspects robbed Carter, one of the assailants, Brantley, allegedly pointed a firearm at Carter and fired three rounds from a distance of about three-feet, and one of the rounds struck Carter in the head, according to the criminal complaint.
“The succession of the three gunshots was so fast that detectives believed the firearm had an illegal ‘switch’ installed, enabling the firearm to operate in automatic fashion,” Wittenberger and Sowell alleged in court papers. “In addition, it is obvious this firearm is equipped with an extended magazine.”
When prosecutors played the video for the judge on a large projection screen in the courtroom on Tuesday several of Carter’s relatives began to weep.
Investigators found three 9mm fired cartridge casings at the scene.
After Brantley, Butler and Davis got into the RAV-4, Allen, the alleged driver, then fled the area, traveling west on West Wood Street.
Detectives used surveillance footage to develop photographs of the suspects which were released to the media and helped lead to the identification and apprehension of the suspects.
Detectives also obtained a photograph of Brantley attending a basketball game at Norristown High School between 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 20 during which Brantley was wearing clothing that prosecutors alleged was consistent with the clothing the alleged shooter was wearing later that night when Carter was fatally shot.
On Jan. 21, authorities discovered the RAV-4 getaway vehicle was set ablaze with an accelerant and destroyed by fire and authorities alleged Brantley is responsible for torching the vehicle. Photographs of Brantley, taken shortly after his arrest, depicted him to have burns on his face and ears and singed eyebrows.
Detectives subsequently determined the Buick vehicle that Carter was driving on the night he was killed belonged to Emel, who had placed a GPS tracking device in the vehicle’s trunk, according to the arrest affidavit.
An analysis of cellphone records, interviews of witnesses and through other investigative techniques detectives learned that Emel had communicated with Allen multiple times before Carter’s robbery and murder, telling Allen that Carter had recently won $3,000 gambling, according to court documents.
Emel allegedly told Allen about Carter’s “daily agenda” and provided the location where Carter was going to be on the evening of Jan. 20. Emel, authorities alleged, was upset because she believed Carter wasn’t paying his fair share of their bills.
Following the alleged murder, video surveillance from a business on North Broad Street in Philadelphia, depicted Emel and Allen meeting between 9:31 and 9:48 p.m., where Allen gave $700 to Emel, according to the arrest affidavit.
