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Jury deliberating fate of Pottstown man accused in fatal shooting

NORRISTOWN — The fate of a Pottstown man accused of the shotgun slaying of another man during a disturbance in the Bright Hope community is in the hands of a Montgomery County jury.

Jury deliberations began at 3:40 p.m. on Wednesday at the trial of Armani Cortez Rhedrick, 22, of the 400 block of West King Street, who is accused of first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, possessing an instrument of crime and tampering with evidence in connection with the Sept. 23, 2019, fatal shooting of 31-year-old Otis Harris.

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman characterized the shooting as a “cold-blooded execution” and alleged Rhedrick committed “a premeditated, unjustifiable, intentional murder.”

“He shot Otis in the chest, in the back and in the head. That’s anger. That’s vengeance. He was shooting to kill. He chose to end a man’s life,” Cauffman argued during her closing statement to jurors.

But defense lawyer Evan T.L. Hughes, arguing for Rhedrick’s acquittal of all charges, maintained Rhedrick acted in self-defense, and to protect his girlfriend and infant child, when Harris and another man invaded his home and attacked him and Harris pointed a gun at him as he chased the men outside his home.

“They forced their way in, attacked him in his own home…and he defended himself with a legally owned firearm. Mr. Rhedrick is forced to fire and put down Otis Harris,” Hughes argued during his closing statement. “Armani had a reasonable belief that he was in danger of death or serious bodily injury.”

If he’s convicted of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, Rhedrick faces life imprisonment. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Under state law, voluntary manslaughter is a killing that occurs when someone has an unreasonable belief that the killing is justifiable. Voluntary manslaughter is a first-degree felony punishable by a maximum of 10-to-20-years in prison.

Cauffman and co-prosecutor Kelli McGinnis wrapped up their case on Wednesday with testimony from Dr. Erica Williams, a forensic pathologist who testified an autopsy determined Harris suffered three gunshot wounds to the head, chest and back, injuries that damaged vital parts of his body including his lungs and aorta.

“They were all potentially fatal. There was devastating injury to the skull and brain,” Williams testified, adding Harris’ cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide.

Hughes wrapped up the defense case with Rhedrick stepping into the witness box.

Rhedrick testified he shot Harris in self-defense, claiming Harris and Rayshawn McKay, Harris’ nephew, showed up at his West King Street home shortly after 8 a.m. Sept. 23 and forced their way inside and assaulted him. Rhedrick claimed he retrieved his 12-gauge pump action shotgun from a closet and chased the men from his home and eventually caught up with Harris outside and ordered Harris to “Stop.”

“That’s when he pulled a gun out and that’s when I fired my shotgun,” Rhedrick claimed, referring to his encounter with Harris. “I was just protecting my family, myself. I had no options. This just happened in my home. They attempted to take my life.”

Rhedrick’s trial testimony was inconsistent with what he told detectives during a statement taken a day after the shooting, a statement in which he claimed Harris was unarmed and that he shot Harris because he believed Harris would “let his friend get me.”

During cross-examination, Cauffman aggressively challenged Rhedrick about the inconsistencies in his initial statement and his trial testimony.

“It’s an incomplete statement. There’s parts and pieces that are missing,” Rhedrick claimed, referring to his initial statement. “They never gave me a chance to fix the mistakes or things misinterpreted.”

Rhedrick claimed he was “nervous, scared, terrified and overwhelmed” and felt pressured to give an initial statement and that he left out key details at the time. He also suggested his original statement may have been less than voluntary, but testimony revealed he did agree to talk to investigators.

Testimony also revealed detectives gave Rhedrick the chance to review his Sept. 24 written statement and Rhedrick did make several corrections on the paper but never indicated Harris was armed at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors argued the first time Rhedrick claimed Harris was armed was during his trial testimony on Wednesday. Cauffman and McGinnis suggested Rhedrick’s statements are self-serving and that the unarmed Harris never assaulted Rhedrick.

Rhedrick’s intial statement and testimony also differed from what prosecution witnesses testified they observed.

Testimony revealed the investigation began about 8:27 a.m. Sept. 23 when Pottstown police responded to a report of a shooting in the unit block of Scott Street. Arriving officers found Harris on the sidewalk in front of a residence there.

“Harris sustained an apparent gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene,” county Detective John Wittenberger and Pottstown Detective Corporal Michael Breslin wrote in the arrest affidavit, adding three fired 12-gauge shotgun shells were recovered in the area of Harris’ body.

Prosecution witnesses testified the shooting occurred minutes after a physical altercation between Rhedrick and Harris’ nephew, Rayshawn McKay, at Rhedrick’s West King Street home.  McKay testified on Monday that after the fight he returned to Harris’ Scott Street home, where he was staying, and told Harris about the altercation.

Harris, according to prosecution witnesses, then went outside and witnesses reported hearing three gunshots within minutes. Prosecutors maintain Harris was unarmed. McKay testified he was upstairs in Harris’ home when he heard the gunshots.

Rhedrick’s West King Street residence is just 150 feet away from the scene of the alleged shooting.

McKay repeatedly denied Hughes’ suggestion that he and Harris had invaded Rhedrick’s home while armed with guns and McKay maintained Harris was not present for the earlier altercation he had with Rhedrick.

McKay was not charged with any crimes.

Other prosecution witnesses reported observing Rhedrick carrying a rifle wrapped inside a blanket, getting into a silver Hyundai sedan and leaving the scene of the shooting.

Rhedrick was taken into custody a day after the fatal shooting at his mother’s residence in Philadelphia.


Source: Berkshire mont

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