U.D. man acquitted on all charges in fatal shooting
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » An Upper Darby man has been acquitted on murder and related charges in the March 2022 shooting death of 31-year-old Michael Jones.
Nathaniel A. Bing, 35, of the 300 block of Christopher Place, was found not guilty of murder in the first and third degree, voluntary manslaughter and possessing an instrument of crime following a jury trial before Common Pleas Court Judge Dominic Pileggi.
How it happened
Bing was charged with shooting Jones dead in his apartment at 318 B Christopher Place in the early morning hours of March 11.
Bing had never denied shooting Jones, who had been a friend of his for years, but told detectives the other man was drunk and attacked him inside the apartment.
Police were called shortly before 4 a.m. for a shooting and Upper Darby Police Officer Charles Peterson, who had been nearby, was the first to respond.
Peterson told Assistant District Attorney Lewis Reagan that a red car driven by a woman was pulling away as he arrived at the scene and he ordered her to stop.
She told him that she had just dropped her boyfriend off to collect his things from 318 B, which was the location of the shooting broadcast over police radio. Peterson ordered her to park and called for backup.
A neighbor came out and said they needed help upstairs. He told the neighbor to unlock the door and step away. Dispatch indicated the shooter was on the phone with 911 and that he was coming out of the apartment.
Peterson said Bing exited the building and was taken into custody. Officers then swept the apartment before paramedics were called up to treat Jones. Police located a .380-caliber handgun on a table and a single fired cartridge casing at the end of the hall, Peterson said.
Jones died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, according to Gary Collins, chief medical examiner for Wilmington, Delaware. Jones had been taken to a Wilmington Hospital after the shooting, and died there.
Collins said there was minor stippling round the wound, indicating the shooter was anywhere from a few inches to 3 feet away when the gun was fired.
Recorded interviews
Bing told Upper Darby Detective Kevin Gamber in recorded interviews played for the jury that he and Jones met while working together in 2007 and become friends. Jones needed a place to stay and Bing offered his unused daughter’s room.
About 11 p.m. the night before the shooting, Bing told Gamber that he came home from work to find his lights on, a liquor bottle, women’s hair and eyelashes in the shower, a lubricant bottle and what appeared to be semen stains on his couch.
Bing called Jones to see if he had a woman in the apartment while he was at work. They had previously discussed how Jones had been disrespecting him and that the apartment was “not a hotel,” according to text messages.
Bing also discussed the situation with Jones’ girlfriend, showing her the evidence in a video call. Jones was upset with Bing about that, texting him that he wanted to “rumble” him. Bing told Jones to sleep it off and sober up, then call him in the morning.
Bing also told the downstairs neighbor not to let Jones in and that he was changing the locks the next day. He packed Jones’ remaining items and placed them near the door to be picked up that weekend. Peterson confirmed those items were present when he came in.
Jones said he went to bed about 3 a.m. but was awakened by the sound of the door opening and a chair he had placed there moving, so he retrieved his handgun from a dresser. When he saw it was Jones coming into the apartment, an argument ensued and Bing claimed that he repeatedly told Jones to get his belongings and leave.
Jones did move toward the door with his keys out, but them put the keys back in his pocket, hitched up his pants and advanced on Bing, according to the defendant. Bing said he backed up in the narrow hallway, but Jones swung and connected with his neck or shoulder area. At that point, Bing said he pulled the .380 out of his right pocket and fired a single shot.
Jones stumbled back down the hall toward the front door and collapsed, Bing said. Bing then called 911 and told Jones, “Stay with me.”
Wrapping up
Reagan argued in closing last week that for Bing to succeed on a selfdefense claim, he had to be afraid for his life or in fear of serious bodily injury.
But if Bing was truly scared of Jones, he would have called the police after Jones threatened him or more effectively barricaded the door, Reagan said. He also noted there was no blood anywhere in the apartment except near the front door, and posited that Jones did not make it into the apartment past that point before Bing fired.
Defense attorney Timothy Tarpey argued that Jones had a 0.18% blood alcohol level that night and had already sent threatening texts to Bing. Tarpey noted Bing knew Jones had already been arrested for criminal trespass and assault, so the idea that he might come and assault him as well was not outside the realm of possibility.
Tarpey said Bing was under no obligation to speak to detectives twice that day, but did so because he had nothing to hide about the incident. He consistently said the same things, Tarpey noted: That Jones was drunk and yelling when he came to the apartment, that he came at Bing aggressively and hit him, and that he fired the one shot in self-defense, but instantly tried to help Jones because he did not want him to die.
Bing had been in custody without bail since the day of Jones’s death.
He pleaded guilty in February to voluntary manslaughter and possessing an instrument of crime, but withdrew that plea in April in favor of a trial, saying he was “innocent of all charges.”
The jury agreed.