Convicted killer resentenced

Jorge Munoz was 17 when he killed a man with a shotgun in Norristown; now 38, he will be eligible for parole in 2024

COURTHOUSE » Twenty-one years after he took part in the shotgun slaying of a Norristown man and was sentenced to life in prison, a onetime member of The Latin Kings gang learned he could be freed in six years, notably because he was 17 at the time of the crime.

Jorge “George” Munoz, now 38, formerly of the 1000 block of West Main Street, Norristown, was resentenced in Montgomery County Court Friday to 28 years to life in prison on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 5, 1996, slaying of 20-year-old Christopher McNelly.

The sentence means Munoz could become eligible for parole in 2024.

However, the maximum life sentence ensures that Munoz, if released, will be under supervision of state parole officials for the rest of his life.

“I’m truly sorry. I’m truly sorry for everything,” Munoz said as sheriff’s deputies escorted him from court with the prospect of one day being free.

Judge Carolyn T. Carluccio vacated Munoz’s previous life prison term and imposed the new

sentence, essentially accepting a sentencing agreement reached between prosecutors and Munoz’s defense team.

The agreement was reached on the second day of Munoz’s resentencing hearing, which had been punctuated by emotional testimony from McNelly’s survivors and Munoz’s supporters.

“This result is consistent with the dictates of the U.S. Supreme Court,” Carluccio explained.

Munoz, who was convicted by a jury at a May 1998 trial of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 1998, was granted a resentencing hearing in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling that mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole were unconstitutional for juveniles. In 2016, the high court said the ruling should be applied retroactively.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a separate ruling, has said prosecutors bear “the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the juvenile offender is incapable of rehabilitation.”

At the time of the killing, Munoz was just two months shy of his 18th birthday.

“I hope that you take this opportunity that you’ve been given to become the person I think you can become,” Carluccio addressed Munoz after imposing the new sentence, urging him to not forget McNelly.

The judge also ordered Munoz to have no contact with The Latin Kings.

Relatives of McNelly were noticeably upset about the outcome, some testifying that they never believed they would see the release of McNelly’s killer, given the original life sentence.

“This has turned them upside down. I don’t think anyone on the victim’s side is happy about this result but I thank them for their cooperation,” First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. said in court, praising their courage and thanking them for being a voice for McNelly during the difficult court proceedings prompted by the Supreme Court decision.

Defense lawyer Alston Meade Jr. argued Munoz “is a fully rehabilitated person.”

“This incident was a terrible tragedy but it was an aberration,” Meade maintained.

Authorities said Munoz used a shotgun to shoot McNelly in the chest from close range during a 6:16 p.m. altercation near West Airy and George streets. McNelly, of the 200 block of Stanbridge Street, suffered a perforated aorta from the fatal shotgun blast.

Prosecutors alleged Munoz was a member of The Latin Kings and was directed by Victor Rodriguez, a high-ranking member or “heavyweight” of the gang, to shoot McNelly because Rodriguez had a grudge against McNelly.

At a separate trial in 1998, Rodriguez, who was 24 at the time of the killing, was convicted of firstdegree murder and is currently serving a life sentence.

In court papers filed before Friday’s hearing, McCann had suggested that justice in the case demanded that Munoz serve many more years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.

But Meade sought a mitigated sentence on behalf of Munoz, implying Munoz had a difficult childhood punctuated by “chaos” and poverty.

Carol Schouwe, McNelly’s mother, testified she was devastated by the loss of her son.

“A part of my heart is gone,” Schouwe testified, dramatically posing a question to others in the packed courtroom. “If it was your child, would you want the murderer who killed your child to be set free?”

Heather Pierce, McNelly’s girlfriend at the time of the fatal shooting, tearfully testified her son, who was just a baby when McNelly was killed, has no memory of his father and that Munoz robbed her son of a father.

“I felt like my soul just left my body,” said Pierce, recalling the moment she learned McNelly was dead. “Chris brightened every room he entered.”

McNelly’s son, Christopher Jr., testified he yearned to have a father.

“I always wondered who my father was. I wanted to have a real dad. I didn’t have a father to learn from,” the young man told the judge.

Munoz’s 70-year-old mother, Evelyn Baez, testified she moved her family from Chicago to Norristown, where an older son lived, in the 1990s to get Munoz away from gangs. She added Munoz suffered from depression during his youth and was prescribed medication.

Other family members testified Munoz is a changed man and “much more balanced.” Two of Munoz’s fellow inmates from the State Correctional Institution at Smithfield in Huntingdon County testified Munoz is a role model to other inmates, works in the prison library, is a legal aide to others in prison and is “a standup guy” with “a good heart.”

Gary Peters, a spiritual advisor to Munoz, testified Munoz is a spiritual person.

“He is truly a compassionate, sincere and warmhearted person. That’s been my experience with George,” Peters told the judge on Munoz’s behalf.