Trial begins for Pottstown man accused of fatally shooting Parkesburg man

Kevin Maurice Morgan, of Pottstown, is escorted out of a Montgomery County courtroom June 10, 2024, after a jury was selected for his homicide trial. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)

NORRISTOWN — A Pottstown man had specific intent to kill when he fired a single fatal shot at an unarmed Chester County man with whom he had an angry exchange during a custody transfer. child in the district, a prosecutor argued before a jury.

“It was something he thought about in the minutes leading up to the murder. “He brought a loaded gun to a custody exchange with his 12-year-old daughter,” Assistant Montgomery County Prosecutor Courtney McMonagle argued during her opening statement to a jury in Kevin's homicide trial. Maurice Morgan started on Tuesday.

Morgan, 35, of the 500 block of May Street, is charged with first- and third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering another person and endangering property. being children in relation to the alleged 7:13 p.m. on June 27. , 2023, fatal shooting of Derek Mayo, 38, of Parkesburg.

“He not only intended to take Derek's life, he also put the lives of others in danger,” McMonagle argued, referring to two children and two other adults present during the shooting. “Derek’s murder was intentional, deliberate and premeditated. His actions demonstrate his intention.

The fatal shooting occurred in the area of ​​May and Hale streets, a short distance from Morgan's Pottstown home, as Morgan was transferring custody of her 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 broke out between Mayo and Morgan at that time, according to testimony.

McMonagle, who is handling the case with co-prosecutor Allison Ruth, argued that specific intent to kill, a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction, “can happen in the blink of an eye, in a finger snap “.

But defense attorney John Han suggested that Morgan believed Mayo was armed and that Morgan acted in self-defense when Mayo accused him, saying, “You want some of that?” Han argued that Morgan acted “to prevent Derek Mayo from harming his family,” referring to Morgan's pregnant wife, Julise, who was also present during the custody transfer.

“That’s why he acted the way he did, to protect himself and his family,” Han told the jury during his opening statement.

Han suggested that prosecutors “cherry-pick” the evidence and only tell “half the story.” Han claimed Mayo had threatened Morgan and assaulted him in the past and that Mayo was not allowed to be alone with the 12-year-old daughter Morgan shared with Love-Sheller. Han argued that Morgan was caught off guard when he saw that Mayo accompanied Love-Sheller to the custody exchange.

Han said Morgan had a license to legally carry a gun and had carried one since he experienced a “traumatic and horrific event” in January 2012 when he witnessed the fatal shooting of a childhood friend after a night out at a bar in West Chester. Morgan, who testified against the person convicted of the homicide in Chester County Court, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety and lived with the fear that “someone would hurt 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. It was his ritual, it was his custom,” Han told the jury of six men and six women.

The trial before Judge William R. Carpenter is expected to last several days.

A conviction for first-degree murder, which is intentional killing, carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

A conviction for third-degree murder, murder committed with malice, hardness of heart, cruelty, or recklessness of consequences, carries a 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 upon entering the back seat of Love-Sheller's car, she heard Morgan make a disparaging comment while questioning why Love-Sheller had brought Mayo into the custody transfer.

“My dad started arguing with Derek and my mom,” the little girl testified, occasionally using a tissue to wipe tears from her eyes.

The girl testified that after Love-Sheller moved the vehicle forward, Mayo told her to “stop” and she saw Mayo get out of the front passenger seat and walk toward the rear of the vehicle. The girl said she did not see the shooting. But the girl broke down in tears when she remembered hearing Mayo scream that he had been shot.

Jurors also viewed a videotape of an interview children's social workers conducted with the girl a day after the shooting, consistent with testimony she gave Tuesday.

The investigation began around 7:13 p.m. on 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 sidewalk and the passenger side of a Kia Optima vehicle, “suffering from 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 house on May Street and said, “My little daddy just shot him, he's in that house,” according to the criminal complaint .

Morgan obeyed police orders to exit the residence and when asked “Where is the gun?” Morgan responded, “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 obtaining a search warrant, police found a total of six firearms in the home, including five semi-automatic pistols, according to the probable cause affidavit. One of them, a Taurus G2C, was found with an empty cartridge jammed in the barrel and police believe it was the murder weapon, court documents state.

Morgan's wife, Julise, told police that her husband “owned multiple firearms and regularly carried one on his person,” according to court documents. All of the guns found by police legally belonged to Morgan, police said.

Morgan allegedly made several statements to the first responding officers that it was “self-defense,” according to court documents.

Mayo was taken to Pottstown Hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined Mayo's cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

The investigation determined that Mayo arrived on 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 for whom she shared custody with Morgan, according to court documents.

During the custody exchange, Morgan approached Love-Sheller's vehicle with his daughter and got into a verbal argument with Mayo, who exited the vehicle, according to the arrest affidavit.

During the verbal altercation, Morgan pulled out a gun and shot Mayo, detectives said.

A witness to the shooting told detectives the victim made no movement during the argument that warranted “this response from the shooter,” according to court documents.