The strange saga of Shaurn Thomas took another turn earlier this month, as the man who turned from wrongly convicted felon to exonerated millionaire to crime victim, now awaits sentencing for a new murder.
Thomas, who was exonerated and given a $4.1 million settlement after serving 24 years in prison for a murder conviction that was dropped over doubts about his guilt, pleaded guilty a week ago to charges of third-degree murder in a 2023 slaying over a relatively paltry sum he was allegedly owed.
Thomas, 50, of Kennett, Chester County admitted gunning down his girlfriend’s friend, Akeem Edwards, last year after the 38-year-old father allegedly failed to pay out $1,200 for the cocaine Thomas gave him to sell, according to published reports.
The judge at the plea hearing in Philadelphia appeared nearly stunned by the facts of the case — that a multimillionaire who spent nearly half his life in prison would risk being sent back over a comparably measly amount of cash, according to published reports. Thomas had already been sentenced to life in prison once when he was just 20 years old before his conviction was overturned.
At the time, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder for the 1990 shooting death of a North Philadelphia businessman in a robbery gone wrong.
But a judge vacated his conviction in 2017 after issues with the police investigation — including the failure to verify his alleged alibi — and interrogation tactics involving alleged co-conspirators were unearthed. The Pennsylvania Innocence Project helped secure Thomas’ freedom.
Using the money he received from Philadelphia for his wrongful incarceration, Thomas purchased a home in Kennett, among the more wealthy municipalities in the county, to escape the city environment.
But he ran afoul of a neighbor who allegedly harbored racial animus towards Blacks. And in 2021, the two men collided in a dispute over Thomas’s dog.
According to an arrest affidavit in the case filed by Kennett Officer Jonathan DeLeon, police were called to a home in the 300 block of Kennett Pike around 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2021. There, Thomas told him that James Coldiron, his nextdoor neighbor, had begun yelling at him over the fence that divided their yards because he felt threatened by Thomas’s dog.
Coldiron told him, “If your dog comes over here, I will kill you and your dog,” even though the pet was on a leash. Coldiron said that he owned a gun, and he would kill him with it, and used a racial slur in doing so.
The account was corroborated by Thomas’s wife, Devonia Mourning, who said she heard him curse at her husband and use the racial epithet, all the while threatening to kill him.
When DeLeon confronted Coldiron, he did not deny what the couple had reported. Instead, he pointed at DeLeon’s firearm and said, “There ain’t nothing you can do without your tool right there to stop me, because if you do not do something about him today, I promise you, right hand to my heart, that I am going to exterminate them.”
He was charged in November 2021 with misdemeanor terroristic threats, harassment, and disorderly conduct. He was released on unsecured bail and pleaded guilty to the single count of terroristic threats in September 2022.
In an apology to Thomas during the hearing, Coldiron said he regretted his “unfortunate choice of words” while making threats, which he said were set off by his PTSD.
“I wish the situation had gone differently on many levels,” the 37-year-old said. “I am not always aware of what I am saying. I can guarantee you something like this will never happened again. I wish you well.”
But in his address to the court, Thomas stressed that he had never given Coldiron any reason to react the way he did, and noted that it was not the first time he felt threatened by his neighbor.
“I don’t even know him,” he said. “I was never given the chance. But what I endured no one should endure.”
In addition to the new murder charge, Thomas pleaded guilty Dec. 6 to conspiracy, illegal gun possession and other crimes.
Edwards’ family members said they hope his killer gets sent back to prison for the rest of his life at his sentencing scheduled for February.
“There’s not enough time for them to possibly give him,” Edwards’ sister, Tyeisha Marshall, was quoted as saying.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
Source: Berkshire mont