Norristown man sentenced to decades in state prison for killing a ‘truly innocent bystander’

A Norristown man pleaded guilty to third-degree murder on Tuesday for killing a bystander in the crossfire of a revenge shooting gone wrong.

Damien Wilson, 19, also pleaded to attempted murder during a brief hearing before Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter. Carpenter sentenced him afterward to 27 ½ to 55 years in state prison, accepting the negotiation made with prosecutors that spared Wilson from a trial for first-degree murder.

Wilson shot Anthony Vitelli, a 47-year-old father of two, once in the chest on Oct. 7, 2022, while aiming at Christopher Hall, whose friend had shot Wilson in the ankle months earlier, according to prosecutors. Hall returned fire, but neither he nor Wilson was wounded.

Vitelli, who was walking down Arch Street behind the apartment complex where he lived at the time, was taken by medics to Paoli Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

His wife, Alyson, told The Inquirer after Wilson’s arrest in the spring that Vitelli was in the process of moving to Florida at the time of his death. The couple would have celebrated their 10-year anniversary in July.

“He was a great husband and a wonderful father,” she said. “This was all over a senseless act of violence. It could have been avoided.”

Assistant District Attorney Bill Highland said Tuesday that his office sought a significant state prison sentence in the case because Vitelli was “truly an innocent bystander” who turned the corner at the wrong time.

“Unfortunately, our office has prosecuted a number of transferred intent cases now,” Highland said. “They are truly tragic situations wherein people who are not the intended targets are going about their lives and unfortunately lose their life because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Wilson’s lawyer, Jim Lyons, said that his client was “extremely remorseful” for what happened, and that he had no idea Vitelli was nearby when the shots were fired. Lyons called the shooting an accident.

He said Wilson had been living in fear, threatened by rivals who threatened to kill him. After being shot in July 2022, he said, that paranoia escalated.

“He was genuinely remorseful, he was hurt, he understands he has to accept responsibility for what he did, and that’s what he’s doing,” Lyons said. “I think the sentence is a little bit more, given his age, than really is warranted here, but the alternative is life in prison.”

After the shooting, Wilson fled and stayed on the run for months. U.S. Marshals caught up with him in North Philadelphia in May, and took him into custody.

Detectives were able to identify him as the gunman who killed Vitelli through surveillance footage and witnesses, helped in part by the distinctive pink socks he wore during the attack, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

His identity was corroborated by a police report from the July 2022 shooting in which Wilson was interviewed by police after being shot in Norristown.

Another witness, whom police did not identify, told investigators of a conversation between Wilson and Deonte Kelly, his cousin, in which they discussed the murder, the affidavit said.

Like his cousin, Kelly, 24, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, and related crimes in June for his role in a killing.

In that case, Kelly and his accomplice, Dominic Carboni, killed two Pottsgrove High School students in “cold blood” during a robbery disguised as a drug deal, according to prosecutors.

Kelly is serving a 25- to 50-year sentence in state prison.

The final piece of evidence against Wilson was a text conversation detectives intercepted between him and his ex-girlfriend, in which they discussed ways he could hide from investigators, according to the affidavit.

Wilson also faces criminal charges for attacking that woman during an argument at her home in Norristown in August 2022, court records show. His trial on simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment is pending.