Murder suspect won’t face death penalty
NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man showed no reaction as he learned prosecutors aren’t seeking the death penalty against him in the event he’s convicted of allegations he intentionally fatally shot his roommate during an argument.
“The death penalty has very particular requirements in Pennsylvania, both aggravating and mitigating factors. Based upon our review of the case and the applicability of those factors, we do not feel it’s appropriate to move forward with the death penalty,” Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Richard Bradbury Jr. explained on Friday after Darryl “Omar” McMillian was arraigned on murder-related charges in connection with the alleged April 16 fatal shooting of James Madison.
With the death penalty off the table, McMillian, 37, of the 100 block of North Charlotte Street, will face life imprisonment if he’s convicted of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing.
Under state law, first-degree murder is punishable by either life imprisonment or death by lethal injection. It’s during a formal arraignment hearing that prosecutors must notify a judge about their intentions regarding the death penalty.
In order to obtain a death penalty, prosecutors must show that aggravating factors – circum
stances 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.
McMillian also is charged with third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, which carries a possible maximum sentence of 20-to-40-years in prison upon conviction.
Other charges include receiving stolen property, possessing an instrument of crime, unsworn falsification to authorities and possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine.
McMillian waived a formal reading of the charges against him and pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein set McMillian’s trial date for Oct. 11.
Defense lawyer Michael P. Gottlieb, who is courtappointed to represent McMillian, immediately filed a petition asking the judge to appoint a private investigator to assist in the case.
“Petitioner’s counsel believes that there are or may be numerous witnesses that must be interviewed… and evidence that must be gathered,” Gottlieb wrote in the petition. “Petitioner is indigent and cannot afford to pay a private investigator as counsel is court-appointed.”
An investigation began about 1 a.m. April 16 when Pottstown police were dispatched to the 100 block of North Charlotte Street for a reported disturbance in an alley. When police were in the area they heard a single gunshot from inside an apartment in the block, according to court documents.
When officers knocked
on the apartment door they were greeted by McMillian and upon entering a bathroom they found Madison, 41, on the bathroom floor “suffering from an apparent gunshot wound,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective John Wittenberger and Pottstown Detective Sgt. Thomas Leahan.
Madison was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy conducted by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office determined Madison’s cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the torso. The manner of death was ruled homicide.
Bradbury, assisted by coprosecutor Evan Correia, declined to comment about a motive for the alleged shooting.
During a joint investigation, Pottstown police and county detectives observed a broken chair in the
kitchen and the top portion of the bathroom door to be broken. Investigators also recovered one spent .45-caliber cartridge casing on the floor near the bathroom, according to the criminal complaint.
A search of the apartment uncovered a Springfield .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol concealed above a bedroom ceiling tile. The pistol had been reported stolen to New Hanover police on Dec. 12, 2018, according to the arrest affidavit.
In proximity to the gun detectives recovered a sock that contained 56 bags of suspected crack cocaine, according to the criminal complaint. Authorities found an additional six bags of suspected crack cocaine in other areas of the apartment.
Detectives alleged the suspected crack cocaine was possessed for distribution and not personal use.
A witness who resided at the apartment with McMillian and Madison told detectives McMillian arrived home and began arguing with and demanding money from Madison. The witness told detectives the two men became embroiled in a physical altercation and she described McMillian as the aggressor, according to court documents.
The witness claimed she was in another room when she heard a single gunshot and then observed McMillian “running back and forth inside the apartment.”
When he was questioned by detectives McMillian initially denied any involvement in the shooting and claimed that he returned home just prior to police arriving and observed Madison injured inside the bathroom, according to the affidavit.
However, when confronted with inconsistencies in his statement, McMillian
allegedly admitted to owning a .45-caliber pistol for his protection and that he was in an altercation with Madison prior to the shooting.
“McMillian said the altercation with Madison occurred outside the apartment bathroom and he was unsure who was holding the firearm at the time of the shooting. McMillian said the bathroom door was broken during this altercation,” Wittenberger and Leahan alleged in the arrest affidavit.
“McMillian told detectives after the shooting, he concealed the firearm inside the ceiling as police were on the scene,” detectives added.
Detectives alleged that evidence at the scene suggested Madison did try to retreat, during the altercation, to the bathroom where he used a plastic pipe to barricade the bathroom door in an attempt to thwart McMillian’s entry.