Accused double-killer won’t face death penalty
NORRISTOWN » The Norristown man accused of fatally shooting two men in a car during what he claimed was a botched drug deal will not face the death penalty if he’s convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings, prosecutors revealed.
“When we have first-degree murder cases such as this, my office considers everything, we consider the aggravating circumstances, the mitigating circumstances. We try to consider all of the circumstances surrounding a case. We analyze them on a caseby-case basis before making a decision of that magnitude,” Montgomery County Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick said May 3 after accused double-killer Miguel Mino-Rojas was formally arraigned on murder charges.
It’s at the formal arraignment hearing where prosecutors must notify a judge if they intend to seek the death penalty.
“In this case we reviewed all of the circumstances surrounding the facts of this case and the district attorney has decided not to seek the death penalty in this case,” McGoldrick said.
Under state law, in order to obtain a death penalty, prosecutors must show that aggravating factors – circumstances that make a killing more heinous – outweigh any mitigating factors – circumstances that favor a defendant. Specifically, prosecutors have 18 aggravating factors, under state law, which they can use to seek the death penalty.
With the death penalty off the table, Mino-Rojas, 20, of the 400 block of Tremont Avenue, will face life imprisonment if he’s convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the alleged 12:12 a.m. Feb. 26 shooting deaths of Isaias Martinez, 53, and Guillermo Rivera-Rubio, 44, in the 700 block of Chain Street.
In addition to two counts of first-degree murder, Mino-Rojas faces two counts each of second- and third-degree murder and robbery as well as charges of person not to possess a firearm and possessing an instrument of crime.
Mino-Rojas, through his lawyer Carrie L. Allman, the chief homicide lawyer for the public defender’s office, entered not guilty pleas to all the charges at his formal arraignment hearing before Judge Steven C. Tolliver. Mino-Rojas will remain in the county jail without bail while awaiting his trial later this year.
If convicted of second-degree murder, which is a killing committed during the course of another felony such as robbery, Mino-Rojas also faces a mandatory life prison term. A conviction of third-degree murder, which is a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum prison term of 20 to 40 years.
Mino-Rojas was supported in court on Thursday by several relatives and friends.
Mino-Rojas allegedly told detectives the shooting occurred during a botched drug deal.
The investigation began when Norristown police responded to the 700 block of Chain Street for reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers discovered Martinez and Rivera-Rubio, both shot in the head, inside a Blue Dodge Neon.
Martinez, the driver, was pronounced dead at the scene while Rivera-Rubio, who was in the passenger’s seat, was transported to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Police processing the scene found a clear plastic bag containing white powder in the street near the passenger’s side of the vehicle but no shell casings were recovered. A witness told investigators two men fled the area after the shooting.
Investigators subsequently utilized footage from nearby security cameras to track two males leaving the area around that time. The footage showed the men running west on Elm Street, before splitting up, with one heading north at George Street.
A borough police sergeant recognized one of the men from an earlier encounter in the 800 block of Kohn Street and after the man’s identity was confirmed, a search warrant was obtained for that address on Feb. 26.
When officers arrived to serve the warrant, they encountered Mino-Rojas. Upon seeing police, MinoRojas allegedly threw a handgun from a third story window into a neighboring yard, according to the arrest affidavit.
Police recovered the gun, a .45-caliber Pietta Colt revolver, which was consistent with the type of weapon that fired a projectile found in Martinez’s body.
Mino-Rojas was taken into custody and while being questioned by detectives, he allegedly admitted to shooting Martinez and Rivera-Rubio. Mino-Rojas told detectives he and an associate went to Chain Street to buy cocaine and that he was armed with the same revolver that was eventually recovered by authorities.
When the alleged dealers arrived, Mino-Rojas said he approached the passenger’s side of a car occupied by two men, according to court documents.
“During the transaction, Rojas said he leaned inside the car. At that time, Rojas said the passenger reached for ‘something’ and that is when Rojas pulled his gun out from his right side and fired two shots into the car,” Montgomery County Detective Michael Crescitelli and Norristown Detective Corporal James Angelucci alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Mino-Rojas allegedly told detectives he fled the scene via adjacent alleys after trying unsuccessfully to smash the car’s driver’s side window.