Judge sentences a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’
Man tied to gunshot slaying of Pottstown teen to serve 35-70 years
NORRISTOWN >> As a judge bemoaned the gun violence in local communities and likened him to “Jekyll and Hyde,” a Norristown man appeared emotionless and resigned to spending decades in prison for supplying the gun to and being the getaway driver for another man during the gunshot slaying of a 16-year-old Pottstown boy.
“It is what it is,” William Durell Wilson, 32, said as he was escorted by sheriff’s deputies from a Montgomery County courtroom on Thursday with a 35-to-70-year prison term for his role in the 6:30 p.m. July 6, 2017, murder of Jordan Scott at Chain Street and Blackberry Alley in Norristown.
The sentence, imposed by Judge Thomas C. Branca, means Wilson, of the first block of Zummo Way, won’t be eligible for parole until he is about 66 years old.
“He appears to be a Jekyll and Hyde. This defendant is bright, articulate, personable, and yet somehow the wheels fall off and he becomes something different. The different part of him is a violent part
of him. It comes out and he harms people,” Branca said.
During a trial in April, a jury convicted Wilson of charges of third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime and unsworn falsification to law enforcement authorities in connection with Scott’s gunshot slaying and the assault and wounding of a second teenager, Taye Wynder, who had been walking with Scott.
The jury acquitted Wilson of a more serious first-degree murder charge.
Scott, who once lived in Norristown’s East End but at the time of the shooting was living in Pottstown, was pronounced dead at a local hospital about an hour after the shooting.
With the conviction, jurors found that Wilson provided a handgun to Isaiah “Zay” Freeman, 18, who was the triggerman. Freeman was convicted of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, and is serving a life prison sentence.
Wilson’s sentence included a 25-to-50-year prison term mandated by law when prosecutors identified Wilson as a so-called “three strike offender,” in light of his previous convictions for rape and robbery.
The judge rejected Deputy District Attorney Samantha Cauffman’s call for a life sentence against Wilson, which also was allowable under the “three strike” law and state sentencing guidelines. In making that decision, Branca said he considered the jury’s third-degree murder determination and his belief Wilson “has the chance to rehabilitate himself.”
“But it’s going to be a long time from now,” Branca added.
During emotional testimony, Denise Scott, Jordan’s mother, questioned why Wilson, at 31, was befriending young men like Freeman and putting guns in their hands, applying pressure to someone who wasn’t his peer.
“That’s my only child. I don’t have any children. My one child in this world is gone because of you,” Denise Scott dramatically addressed Wilson.
The judge added Wilson should have been mentoring younger men against violence instead of provoking them.
“This is an incredibly sad, troubling case. We have violence across our community way too often. Violence touches so many lives…Gun violence has become way to commonplace with the youth of our community,” Branca said.
During a rambling speech about his troubled life, Wilson said he isn’t the man prosecutors depicted in court.
“I’ve been shot at a million times. I’m not the person people think I am. I’m not who the papers say I am. It’s sad,” said Wilson, adding, “I wish I could go back to that day, I wish I could change things.”
The decision to seek a life sentence against Wilson, Cauffman said, was not something she took “lightly.”
“I’m obligated to protect the community from this defendant,” said Cauffman, citing Wilson’s violent criminal record. “He gets caught, he goes to jail, he gets out and does it again. He hurts people over and over.”
According to court documents, in October 2002, Wilson, then 16, was charged as an adult with taking part in the gang rape of an underage girl. While the rape case was pending, Wilson was charged with committing a robbery in March 2003, according to court documents. Wilson later was convicted of both the rape and robbery charges and was sentenced to 5 ½ to 11 years in prison, court records indicate.
Wilson, prosecutors alleged, was out of prison only 189 days for the 2002 and 2003 crimes when he was charged with robbery again in September 2011, a charge of which he was later convicted.
Prosecutors argued Wilson’s most recent conviction of murder and aggravated assault represented five violent offenses in his lifetime.
Defense lawyer James Tone called the case “sad and tragic” but argued against a life sentence for Wilson.
“He’s a bright man,” said Tone, adding Wilson had a dysfunctional childhood. “We aren’t making excuses to the court but point out it’s been difficult.”
Tone, who was court-appointed to represent Wilson at the sentencing hearing, indicated in court that Wilson plans to appeal his conviction.
During the trial, Cauffman described Wilson as “the over confident general with an arsenal” and Freeman as the “battle-hardened soldier full of anger and aggression,” two players who came together “in a mission of violence and murder.”
Hinting at a motive for the killing Cauffman claimed Wilson and Freeman were a part of the same group of friends from Norristown that were feuding with Scott and others associated from Pottstown over several days leading up to July 6, 2017.
During the trial, Bryce Byrd, 19, testified for prosecutors that he was in the backseat of Wilson’s 2013 Dodge Challenger when Wilson parked his car in the area of Blackberry and Jamison alleys and gave Freeman a handgun. Byrd said Freeman, the front seat passenger, was “hyped” and that Wilson “egged him on.” Byrd testified he watched as Freeman exited the vehicle, walked to the corner of Blackberry Alley and Chain Street and fired several gunshots.
Freeman then ran back to Wilson’s waiting vehicle and allegedly stated, “I got him, I got him, I hit him,” and “I shot him all in here” while pointing to his chest, according to testimony and witness accounts contained in the arrest affidavit.
Wilson then drove Freeman away from the scene.
An autopsy determined Scott died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds and two projectiles were removed from the teenager’s body, according to court documents.
Wynder, who had been walking with Scott at the time of the shooting, suffered a gunshot wound to the right ankle and was treated for his wound at Paoli Hospital.