Girlfriend of Norristown man killed faces murder charge after turning herself in: DA
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The girlfriend of a Norristown man who was killed in January faces charges including murder and robbery after turning herself in Wednesday, the Montgomery County district attorney and Norristown police chief said.
Katherine Emel, 29, of Plymouth Meeting faces charges of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy in the death of William Carter.
There is no bail for second-degree murder and officials said Emel is in custody at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. Three men in connection to Carter's death were arrested in New York on Jan. 31.
Damon Brantley Jr., 18, Daquan Allen, 29, and Jerry Butler, 28, were extradited to Montgomery County from Endicott, New York, and were arraigned Wednesday with no bail.
The DA's office said video surveillance showed three men robbed Carter and then fled from a gray Toyota RAV4.
A fourth man was in the driver's seat, police said, after the robbery one of the men shot Carter once in the head, killing him. Officials identified Brantley as the shooter.
Detectives later found out that the car Carter was driving was Emel's and they said she put a GPS tracking device into the truck. According to the release, detectives also found out through cell phone records that Emel talked to Allen many times before the robbery and the fatal shooting; telling Allen that Carter won $3,000 from gambling and gave a location where Carter would be that night.
The DA's office said there's video surveillance of a business on North Broad Street that shows Emel and Allen meeting and Allen giving Emel $700.
"When you assist other people in committing a dangerous felony like robbery and the target of the robbery is murdered, then under the law, you are responsible for their murder as well," said DA Kevin R. Steele. "In this case, this defendant is charged with Second-Degree Murder, which is a homicide that occurs during the commission of a felony."
There is a preliminary hearing for all four on Feb. 16 at 10 a.m.
Assistant District Attorneys Meghan Carney and Jediah Grobstein will be taking over the case.