The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Accused Pottstown killer seeks court-appointed lawyer
NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man accused of fatally shooting a borough woman during an alleged home invasion robbery is indigent and needs the services of a courtappointed lawyer to represent him, according to documents filed in Montgomery County Court.
Defense lawyer Carrie L. Allman, chief homicide lawyer for the county Public Defender’s Office, filed court papers on Thursday asking a judge to appoint her to represent accused killer Aaron Joseph Taylor.
“Mr. Taylor is 18 years old, indigent, incarcerated, and qualifies for the services of the public defender’s office,” Allman wrote in court documents, indicating she met with Taylor on Nov. 28 “and Mr. Taylor indicated his need for counsel.”
The request will go to Judge Thomas C. Branca, who is responsible for appointing lawyers to represent defendants who cannot afford to hire private counsel.
Earlier this week, Taylor, of the first block of West Second Street, was arraigned on charges of second- and thirddegree murder, robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possessing an instrument of crime in connection with the 6:40 p.m. Nov. 18 gunshot slaying of Sylvia Williams, 38, inside a residence in the 300 block of North Washington Street.
A 17-year-old juvenile also was charged with robbery and conspiracy for allegedly participating in the home invasion but does not face murder charges.
A preliminary hearing for Taylor tentatively is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 7 before District Court Judge Edward Kropp Sr.
Second-degree murder, a killing committed during the course of another felony, such as robbery, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment upon conviction. Third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
An investigation began about 6:43 p.m. Nov. 18 when borough police responded to the residence to investigate the activation of a security alarm. As officers arrived at the scene, they observed a male jump from the second floor of the home and he told police that his girlfriend, Williams, was injured and still inside the residence.
When police entered the residence they found Williams, with a bleeding wound to her head, dead in a second-floor front bedroom.
At the time they arrived on the scene, police also observed a light-colored compact car leaving the area at a high rate of speed, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective John Wittenberger and Pottstown Detective Mark Wickersham.
An autopsy determined Williams died from a gunshot wound to the head and her death was ruled a homicide.
Williams’s boyfriend told detectives he was on the second-floor of the residence when he heard yelling. As he started to descend the stairwell to the first-floor Williams’s boyfriend observed a male, wearing a mask and armed with an automatic handgun, according to the arrest affidavit.
According to detectives, Williams’s boyfriend said he ran to his bedroom, which also was occupied by Williams, and he closed the bedroom door, holding it closed with his feet while lying on the floor. Williams then handed her boyfriend an alarm remote and a panic alarm was activated, detectives alleged.
Williams then assisted her boyfriend in holding the door shut.
“(The boyfriend) stated the suspect tried to get into the bedroom by striking the door before (the boyfriend) heard one gunshot,” Wittenberger and Wickersham alleged in the arrest affidavit.
The boyfriend reported it “got quiet,” following the gunshot and he noticed Williams was not moving and was bleeding from her head, according to the arrest affidavit.
Three other people, including two juveniles, also were inside the home at the time of the shooting, court documents indicate. One of the witnesses, a repairman who was changing the front door lock, told detectives two armed males entered through the door while he was changing the lock.
One of the masked men pointed a gun at the repairman and stated, “stay where you are,” according to the criminal complaint. The repairman stated he heard a commotion upstairs and heard a “pop,” court papers indicate. The two armed males then fled the residence.
A witness told detectives he overhead one suspect utter, “there ain’t nothing here” as they left the residence.
Detectives learned Williams’s boyfriend had a home surveillance system that captured the home invasion and shooting on videotape and photographs of the suspects were released to the public as authorities sought to identify the alleged culprits.
A review of surveillance footage from Pottstown street cameras revealed a light-colored Honda Civic was observed in the area at the time of the homicide. Detectives traced the vehicle to a Reading address and subsequently linked a 17-yearold boy to the vehicle.
When he was interviewed by detectives, the teenager admitted to participating in the home invasion robbery with Taylor. The teenager claimed he and Taylor targeted the residence because they believed the home was that of a “big drug dealer,” however, they left without any cash or property, according to court documents.
The teenager told detectives he was armed with a BB pistol and Taylor was armed with a Ruger .22-caliber pistol. A projectile retrieved from Williams’s body was consistent with that of a .22-caliber, detectives alleged.