Two men accused of killing a 71-year-old in Chester will face a county judge on murder charges

Delaware County prosecutors have withdrawn first-degree murder charges against two men accused of robbing and killing a 71-year-old Chester man in the expectation that the two will plead guilty to a lesser degree of murder.

Ramadon Sudan, 29, of Brookhaven, and Damon Jones Jr., 27, of Chester, were held over on the remaining charges they face in the death of Joseph Wright — including second- and third-degree murder — after waiving their preliminary hearings Monday.

Assistant District Attorney Shuaiyb Newton said the decision to withdraw the most serious charge the two faced was made in consultation with their attorneys.

Wright was found stabbed nearly 30 times inside his Rose Street apartment on March 28, according to prosecutors. Investigators later identified Sudan and Jones as suspects after Sudan was found driving Wright’s stolen Ford Fusion around Chester.

Jones’ attorney, Wana Saadzoi, did not return a request for comment. Sudan’s attorney could not be reached.

Both men told police that they conspired to rob Wright, and that Wright was stabbed during that episode, according to the affidavit of probable cause for their arrests.

Wright’s family asked police to perform a wellness check on March 29 after not hearing from him for some time, the affidavit said.

Inside the apartment, the officers found Wright lying on his back in a pool of blood, according to the affidavit. Strewn CDs and knocked-over speakers indicated there had been a struggle inside.

Medics pronounced Wright dead at the scene from 28 stab wounds to his torso.

The officers later discovered that his 2017 Ford Fusion was missing, and hours later learned that it had been recorded by a license plate reader nearby in Chester.

They pulled the car over on West Ninth Street at 1:30 a.m. on March 30 and found Sudan behind its wheel, carrying eight vials of crack cocaine, the affidavit said.

On his cell phone, detectives discovered a text conversation in which he and Jones plotted the crime, the affidavit said. The men involved their girlfriends in the plot, sending them in to Wright’s home beforehand and waiting until they left to rob him.

Those women, whom police did not identify, have not been charged. A spokesperson for District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said their role in the case remains under investigation.

Sudan and Jones will be arraigned in county court in August, on an order from Magisterial District Judge Shepard Garner.