Jury finds Pottstown man guilty of murder
NORRISTOWN >> A jury convicted a Pottstown man of a homicide charge, finding he acted with malice when he fatally shot another man who was seated in a parked vehicle, allegedly under the belief the victim nearly struck him with a vehicle earlier in the evening.
Gerald Scott Ramos, 45, of the 400 block of
North Evans Street, showed no emotion as he was convicted in Montgomery County
Court on Thursday of third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the
9:35 p.m. Dec. 5, 2021, fatal shooting of Darrius Waller, 36, of Pottstown.
The fatal shooting occurred in the 500 block of North Evans Street where Waller was sitting in a parked vehicle.
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated 10 hours over two days before announcing the verdict.
Third-degree murder is a killing committed with malice or hardness of heart and recklessness of consequences.
Ramos faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison on the third-degree murder charge and 2½ to 5 years on the weapons charge for a possible total maximum sentence of 22½ to 45 years in prison.
Judge William R. Carpenter, who presided over the four-day trial, deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Ramos.
While jurors convicted Ramos of the thirddegree murder charge, they indicated they were deadlocked and couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on a more serious charge of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing and is punishable by a mandatory life prison term.
But with its verdict, the jury rejected the defense argument that Ramos committed the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, which is an intentional killing but one that occurs under an unreasonable belief that the killing is justified. A conviction of voluntary manslaughter carried a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
“The jury deliberated for a long time. We are always respectful of the efforts a jury puts forth. Obviously, they gave this a lot of effort, they spent a lot of time deliberating in this case,” county Deputy
District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick said after the verdict was announced.
During the trial, McGoldrick and co-prosecutor Caroline Goldstein sought a firstdegree murder conviction, arguing Ramos acted with a specific intent to kill when he fired eight gunshots at Waller. McGoldrick argued Ramos “ambushed” an unarmed and unaware Waller.
“When we analyzed this case, we came to the conclusion that it was a first-degree murder, that it was an intentional killing with the specific intent to kill. Because that’s how we viewed the case, I’ll be seeking as lengthy a sentence as I can get,” McGoldrick said.
During the trial, defense lawyer John F. McCaul argued for a conviction of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, maintaining Ramos’ life was spiraling out of control, that he was “hearing voices” and was paranoid at the time of the shooting. In the weeks leading up to the shooting, Ramos experienced a romantic breakup, lost his
job as a landscaper and told relatives he was hearing “voices,” according to testimony.
McCaul argued Ramos believed Waller was the man who nearly struck him with a vehicle earlier in the evening and unreasonably believed Waller had returned to “finish the job” when he observed Waller’s vehicle parked near his residence.
When he stepped into the witness box on Tuesday, Ramos testified he was hearing “voices” in the weeks leading up to the night when he fatally shot Waller. Ramos claimed he had been walking home from a relative’s house on Dec. 5 when a burgundy Jeep passed him in an alley at a high rate of speed, almost striking him, and that it made him feel agitated and angry.
Ramos claimed that in his mind he believed the encounter in the alley was connected to the voices he had been hearing.
Ramos said when he returned to his apartment the voices he was hearing made him feel “uneasy and agitated” and were “provoking.”
Ramos claimed that while he was inside his apartment he looked out his window and observed a burgundy Jeep parked a short distance from his residence on North Evans Street.
Ramos described how he retrieved his loaded handgun, went outside, approached the driver’s side of the vehicle and pointed the 9mm handgun at the driver and fired multiple times. Ramos said he didn’t give Waller a chance to say anything before he fired the gunshots. Ramos claimed he believed he was protecting himself from a threat.
The investigation began about 9:35 p.m. Dec. 5 when Pottstown police were dispatched to the 500 block of North Evans Street for a reported shooting. Arriving officers found Waller in the driver’s seat of a burgundy Jeep Liberty, slumped over between the two front seats and a large amount of blood coming from the left side of his body, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Anthony Caso and Pottstown Detective Corporal Todd Istenes.
As officers removed Waller from the vehicle and began performing lifesaving measures they noticed numerous fired cartridge casings on the ground just outside the Jeep. Court documents indicate investigators ultimately recovered a total of eight 9mm fired cartridge casings.
Waller was transported to Pottstown Hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined Waller died of multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
McGoldrick said the gunshots struck Waller’s vital organs, including his aorta, lungs, stomach and kidneys.
Gerald Ramos is escorted by sheriff’s deputies from a Montgomery County courtroom during a break at his homicide trial.
Investigators recovered video surveillance footage from the area and it depicted Waller’s vehicle stopped in front of a home in the 500 block of North Evans Street with its headlights illuminated and a male, subsequently identified as Ramos, approaching the vehicle on foot.
“The subject approaches Waller’s vehicle from the rear and walks directly to the driver’s side of the vehicle, extends his arm toward the vehicle and fires eight shots directly into the driver’s side of the vehicle,” Caso and Istenes wrote in court papers, adding Ramos then walked back to the area of his nearby residence.
During the investigation, detectives interviewed a relative of Ramos who stated Ramos admitted to him that he shot the man in the vehicle in order to “stop the voices,” according to the criminal complaint.
Relatives reportedly tried to convince Ramos to talk to police but he refused and so relatives called 911.
Pottstown police surrounded Ramos’ home, contacted Ramos by phone and asked him to come outside. Ramos responded he would but then never came outside, investigators said.
At 5:15 a.m. Dec. 6, detectives, with the assistance of the Chester Montgomery Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant at Ramos’ apartment and Ramos was taken into custody without incident.
During a search of Ramos’ apartment, investigators recovered a 9mm Taurus semiautomatic handgun. A records check revealed the gun was legally purchased by Ramos in January 2020.
“When we analyzed this case, we came to the conclusion that it was a first-degree murder, that it was an intentional killing with the specific intent to kill. Because that’s how we viewed the case, I’ll be seeking as lengthy a sentence as I can get.”
— Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick