Prosecutors to seek decades in prison for Pottstown man convicted of gunshot slaying

NORRISTOWN – Prosecutors plan to seek decades in prison for a Pottstown man who fatally shot an unarmed Chester County man during a heated confrontation at the time of a child custody exchange in the borough.

"He brought a loaded gun to the custody exchange of his twelve-year-old daughter. He initiated a terse and difficult situation and he escalated it...Moreover, the defendant chose to make his daughter a witness to the murder of her step dad, without any regard for her physical safety or well-being. The fact that the defendant made his own daughter a witness to murder in unconscionable. The scars will last her a lifetime," Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Allison Ruth wrote in court documents in preparation for convicted killer Kevin Maurice Morgan's upcoming sentencing hearing.

In June, a jury convicted Morgan, 35, of the 500 block of May Street, of charges of third-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, recklessly endangering others and endangering the welfare of children in connection with the 7:13 p.m. June 27, 2023, fatal shooting of Derek Mayo, 38, of Parkesburg. Morgan faces a sentencing hearing Sept. 26 before Judge William R. Carpenter.

In court documents, Ruth revealed she plans to seek a sentence of 29 to 58 years of imprisonment for Morgan, arguing such a sentence "would be consistent with the protection of the community, the gravity of the offense and the defendant's rehabilitative needs."

"The impact of this murder on the family of Derek Mayo cannot be overstated. His four children will grow up without a father. Two of them witnessed his murder. No words can appropriately convey the deep loss and suffering those children have and will continue to endure for the rest of their lives," Ruth wrote.

Third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, cruelty, hardness of heart or a disregard for the value of another person's life, is punishable by a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking that maximum sentence for the murder charge as well as several consecutive terms for the other crimes of which Morgan was convicted.

The jury rejected a more serious charge of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing and would have carried a mandatory life prison term. Ruth and co-prosecutor Courtney McMonagle had sought a first-degree murder conviction at trial, arguing Morgan had the specific intent to kill when he fired a single gunshot at Mayo, mortally wounding him in the chest.

The jury also rejected a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, which defense lawyer John Han had urged the jurors to consider. Voluntary manslaughter occurs when a person causes the death of another person while acting under a sudden heat of passion following serious provocation and carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.

The fatal shooting occurred in the area of May and Hale streets, a short distance from Morgan's home in Pottstown, as Morgan was transferring custody of his 12-year-old daughter to her mother, Kelsay Love-Sheller. Mayo, who was dating Love-Sheller, was a passenger in Love-Sheller's vehicle and a confrontation erupted between Mayo and Morgan at that time.

Ruth and McMonagle argued Morgan not only intended to kill Mayo but he put others' lives in danger too, referring to two children and two other adults who were present during the shooting. Morgan's 12-year-old daughter and a child shared by Mayo and Love-Sheller also were in Love-Sheller's vehicle at the time of the shooting.

But Han suggested Morgan believed Mayo was armed and that Morgan acted in self-defense when Mayo charged at him while stating, "You want some of this?" and grabbing at his waist area as if he had a gun. Han argued Morgan acted to stop Mayo from doing harm to his family, referring to Morgan's pregnant wife, Julise, who also was present during the custody transfer.

When Morgan testified in his own defense, he claimed he believed Mayo was reaching for a gun at his waist and he reacted by pulling out his gun and shooting one time during the altercation.

Morgan testified he didn't expect Mayo, with whom he had heated exchanges in the past, to be accompanying Love-Sheller to the custody transfer. Morgan claimed Mayo had threatened him in the past.

Han argued Morgan had a license to legally carry a firearm and carried one since experiencing a "traumatic, horrific event" in January 2012 when he witnessed the fatal shooting of his childhood friend after a night out at a West Chester bar.

Morgan, who cooperated as a prosecution witness against the person convicted of that homicide in Chester County Court in 2013, testified he suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety after that incident and lived with a fear that somebody was going to harm him. Morgan told the jury that he carried a gun ever since.

Ruth argued Morgan's involvement in the 2013 Chester County case and his self-professed fear afterward were not relevant to the killing of Mayo.

The investigation began about 7:13 p.m. June 27 when Pottstown police responded to a report of a shooting in the 500 block of May Street. A 911 call was made by Love-Sheller, who reported that her boyfriend, Mayo, had been shot, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective James Lavin and Pottstown Detective Adrian Stead.

Arriving officers found Mayo lying in the roadway on Hale Street just south of May Street, between the curb and the passenger side of Love-Sheller's Kia Optima vehicle, "suffering an obvious gunshot wound to the chest," Lavin and Stead wrote in the criminal complaint.

Detectives noted that Mayo "was not armed with any type of weapon."

Lavin testified that no fired cartridge casings were recovered at the scene. Lavin added there were no weapons found in Love-Sheller's vehicle during a search.

Love-Sheller approached police at the scene and pointed to Morgan's May Street home and said, "My baby dad just shot him, he's in that house," according to the criminal complaint.

Love-Sheller testified there was a history of tension between Morgan and Mayo. She said that when Morgan approached her vehicle and placed their daughter in the rear passenger seat during the custody exchange he observed Mayo in the front passenger seat and immediately began berating Mayo.

Love-Sheller testified Morgan refused to close the rear passenger door so she moved her vehicle forward in order to distance Morgan from her vehicle so the door could close. Mayo then asked Love-Sheller to stop the vehicle and he exited the vehicle, according to testimony.

"Derek stood outside the car and two seconds later he got shot," Love-Sheller testified.

A witness to the shooting told detectives the victim did not make any motion during the argument that warranted "that response by the shooter," according to court documents.

Morgan retreated to his residence after the shooting.

Morgan complied with police commands to come out of his residence and when he was asked "Where is the gun?" Morgan replied, "In the house," according to the arrest affidavit.

During an initial search of the home, police found two semi-automatic handguns in a second-floor bedroom.

After a search warrant was obtained, police found a total of six guns in the house, five of them semi-automatic pistols, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Detectives testified one of the guns, a Taurus G2C, was found with an empty cartridge jammed in the barrel. Authorities alleged the Taurus was the murder weapon.