Lawyer for a Delco man charged in I-95 deaths says DA can’t prove shooting was intentional

A Delaware County man who shot another motorist in the head as he drove on I-95, causing a crash that killed a second man, didn’t intend to kill anyone on that September day last year, his lawyer told a judge Friday.

Michael Malloy said there was no evidence that Marquice Pierce, 32, targeted Clinton Martin, 29, as the two men drove near each other on I-95 on Sept. 13.

Martin, of Lansdowne, was on his way to meet friends at a bar in Upper Darby when he was shot in the neck through the driver’s side window of his Mazda on I-95 near I-476 in Ridley Township, according to Pennsylvania State Police. He lost control of the sedan and veered onto the road’s shoulder, killing Joshua Waltz, 33, of Odessa, Del., who had stopped to retrieve something from the trunk of his Chevrolet Malibu.

Waltz, who left behind a 7-month-old child and a fiancée, was pinned under the Mazda and died at the scene, according to testimony Friday.

“There is no evidence, whatsoever, how that gun was discharged,” Malloy said at Pierce’s preliminary hearing, at which investigators testified that Pierce’s DNA was found on the murder weapon, and that his vehicle had gunshot residue on its driver’s side.

“If this were accidental, you can have that same exact evidence,” he added. “You can’t base a prosecution like this on a coin flip.”

But Assistant District Attorney Daniel Kerley said evidence in the case made it clear that Pierce targeted one of the most vital parts of Martin’s body with a deadly weapon.

“Does it make any sense at all to have a gun randomly fire as you’re driving down the highway?” Kerley said. “That’s ludicrous.”

After some deliberation, District Judge Andrew Goldberg agreed with Kerley’s assessment and held Pierce for trial on charges of first- and third-degree murder in Martin’s death, third-degree murder in Waltz’s death, and related crimes.

Martin and Pierce were driving next to each other through Chester on the night of the shooting and both men had entered I-95 via the same on-ramp, according to testimony Friday.

But investigators said there was no indication that Pierce had been following Martin, that the two men knew each other, or that the shooting had been sparked by road rage.

Pierce told friends the shooting was accidental, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest. But rather than report the crime to Pennsylvania State Police — who had posted a $4,000 reward for information about the shooting amid pleas for help from Martin’s family — Pierce dropped the gun down a storm drain in Swarthmore, authorities say. The 9mm handgun had been reported stolen in Delaware in 2019.

At the time of the shooting, Pierce was unable to legally possess a firearm because of a 2012 conviction on drug charges, court records show. Additionally, his driver’s license was suspended.

During interviews with investigators, Pierce denied any involvement in the shooting, but admitted he was driving in the area at the time the shooting occurred.

After Friday’s hearing, Pierce’s mother, Sophia Shamburger-English, said her son has cooperated with investigators, and is not guilty of the crimes of which he’s accused.

“I just want everything done fairly,” she added.

Pierce is scheduled to be arraigned in county court in April.