Pottstown man convicted of homicide charge in gunshot slaying of Parkesburg man [Updated]
NORRISTOWN — A jury determined a Pottstown man acted with malice and a disregard for the life of a Chester County man when he fatally shot the unarmed man during a heated altercation at the time of a child custody transfer in the borough.
Kevin Maurice Morgan, 35, of the 500 block of May Street, showed no visible emotion on Thursday as the Montgomery County Court jury convicted him of charges of third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering others and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the 7:13 p.m. June 27, 2023, fatal shooting of Derek Mayo, 38, of Parkesburg.
Judge William R. Carpenter deferred sentencing so Morgan could undergo a presentence investigation, including a mental health evaluation.
Morgan faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison on the third-degree murder charge, which is a killing committed with malice, cruelty, hardness of heart, recklessness of consequences or a disregard for the value of another person’s life.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated 3½ hours before announcing the verdict.
The jury rejected a more serious charge of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing and would have carried a mandatory life prison term. Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth and co-prosecutor Courtney McMonagle sought a first-degree murder conviction.
“We respect the verdict of the jury. This was a difficult case. We stand by the evidence we had that this was an intentional shooting of an unarmed man and was first-degree, but we respect the jury’s verdict. This was a very long case and they took a lot of time deliberating,” Ruth reacted to the verdict afterward.
“We will be asking for a significant sentence,” said Ruth, who characterized the killing as “horrific.” “This never should have happened. He instigated a fight and then shot an unarmed man.”
Ruth praised the work of county and Pottstown detectives who investigated the crime, calling it “thorough.”
The jury also rejected a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, which defense lawyer John Han had urged the jurors to consider.
Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a person causes the death of another person while acting under a sudden heat of passion following serious provocation. A conviction of voluntary manslaughter carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
Han declined to comment on the verdict as he left the courtroom.
During the trial, Ruth argued Morgan had the specific intent to kill, a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction, when he fired a single gunshot at Mayo, mortally wounding him in the chest.
“He used a deadly weapon to the vital part of the body. He chose to murder an unarmed man in front of his 12-year-old daughter,” Ruth argued during her closing statement to jurors, adding the “specific intent to kill” can be formed in an instant. “This can happen quickly.”
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.
Ruth and McMonagle argued Morgan not only intended to kill Mayo but put others’ lives in danger too, referring to two children and two other adults who were present during the shooting. Morgan’s 12-year-old daughter and a child shared by Mayo and Love-Sheller were also in Love-Sheller’s vehicle at the time of the shooting.
But 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?” and grabbing at his waist area as if he had a gun. Han argued Morgan acted to stop Mayo from doing harm to his family, referring to Morgan’s pregnant wife, Julise, who also was present during the custody transfer.
“This isn’t about ill will or hatred of Derek Mayo. His focus was on protecting his family,” Han argued during his closing statement to jurors.
When Morgan testified in his own defense on Wednesday, he claimed he believed Mayo was reaching for a gun at his waist and he reacted by pulling out his gun and shooting one time during the altercation.
“The actions of Mr. Morgan were of someone who was overwrought by sudden fear and terror,” Han argued.
Morgan testified he didn’t expect Mayo, with whom he had heated exchanges in the past, to be accompanying Love-Sheller to the custody transfer. Morgan claimed Mayo had threatened him in the past.
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 his childhood friend after a night out at a West Chester bar.
Morgan, who cooperated as a prosecution witness against the person convicted of that homicide in Chester County Court in 2013, testified he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety after that incident and lived with a fear that somebody was going to harm him. Morgan told the jury that he carried a gun ever since.
“He never left the house without the gun. Having the gun was his only sense of security,” Han argued.
Ruth argued Morgan’s involvement in the 2013 Chester County case and his self-professed fear afterward were not relevant to the killing of Mayo.
“That’s not a defense to murdering an unarmed man a decade later,” Ruth argued.
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 Love-Sheller’s Kia Optima vehicle, “suffering an obvious gunshot wound to the chest,” Lavin and Stead wrote in the criminal complaint.
Detectives noted that Mayo “was not armed with any type of weapon.”
Lavin testified that no fired cartridge casings were recovered at the scene. Lavin added there were no weapons found in Love-Sheller’s vehicle during a search.
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.
Love-Sheller testified there was a history of tension between Morgan and Mayo. She said that when Morgan approached her vehicle and placed their daughter in the rear passenger seat during the custody exchange he observed Mayo in the front passenger seat and immediately began berating Mayo.
Love-Sheller testified Morgan refused to close the rear passenger door so she moved her vehicle forward in order to distance Morgan from her vehicle so the door could close. Mayo then asked Love-Sheller to stop the vehicle and he exited the vehicle, according to testimony.
“Derek stood outside the car and two seconds later he got shot,” Love-Sheller testified.
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.
Morgan retreated to his residence after the shooting.
Morgan complied with police commands to come out of his residence and when he was asked “Where is the gun?” Morgan replied, “In the house,” according to the arrest affidavit.
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.
Detectives testified one of the guns, a Taurus G2C, was found with an empty cartridge jammed in the barrel. Authorities alleged the Taurus was the murder weapon.
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