Man admits killing roommate
Sentenced to 25-to-50-years in state prison
NORRISTOWN >> A Pottstown man showed no emotion as he admitted to fatally shooting his roommate during an argument about money and offered no apology to the victim’s grieving relatives in the courtroom.
Darryl “Omar” McMillian, 37, of the 100 block of North Charlotte Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Thursday to a total of 25-to50-years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder and person not to possess a firearm in connection with the 1 a.m. April 16 gunshot slaying of James Madison, 41, his roommate.
“You are now a convicted murderer,” Judge Wendy G. Rothstein addressed McMillian as she accepted a plea agreement.
McMillian, who was represented by defense lawyer Michael P. Gottlieb, turned down the chance to address the courtroom before learning his fate. Madison’s parents, sister, aunts and uncles were in the courtroom to witness McMillian’s admission.
“I want it to be known that my son’s death has devastated me and my family. It has nearly destroyed me. Every day is a struggle to keep going,” Joyce Madison, the victim’s mother, told the judge. “He was a good man.”
The judge urged the victim’s relatives to embrace their positive memories of Madison.
“This is a sad day. To his family I extend you my condolences. It’s difficult to lose a loved one,
let alone to murder,” Rothstein addressed Madison’s family.
Joyce Madison said she wanted the maximum penalty possible to be imposed against her son’s killer.
The sentence included the maximum 20-to-40year term for the charge of third-degree murder, which is a killing committed with malice.
By accepting the plea agreement, McMillian avoided the risk of being convicted at an Oct. 11 trial of first-degree murder, an intentional killing that carries a mandatory life prison sentence.
“The defendant admitted that he came back to the apartment that he shared with the victim. He confronted the victim over some money he believed the victim had taken. That argument became physical and he began to attack the victim,” said Assistant District Attorney Richard Bradbury Jr., explaining the facts to which McMillian admitted.
“Mr. Madison was able to temporarily get away from the defendant, sought refuge in the bathroom of the apartment. The defendant continued the altercation with Mr. Madison and, using a Springfield .45-caliber handgun, shot James Madison once in the lower abdomen,” Bradbury added.
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.
“I think anytime someone takes another human being’s life, it’s the most serious crime there is, and that’s why we sought and were able to obtain the maximum possible sentence on murder of the third-degree,” said co-prosecutor Evan Correia.
The investigation determined McMillian, having previously been convicted of a felony drug charge, was legally precluded from possessing a firearm.
The investigation began 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, 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.
Investigators 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 the 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.
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.
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.
“This is another great investigation by the Pottstown Police Department and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau. People don’t plead guilty to charges like this simply because they acknowledge they did it, they plead guilty because they know we can prove it,” said Bradbury, adding Leahan and Wittenberger “gave us the evidence we needed to bring justice to the victim’s family and the community.”