Man charged with murder in Norristown shooting

A 41-year-old man was charged first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 32-year-old man early Wednesday morning in Norristown, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Saleem Smith, of Norristown, is accused of killing 32-year-old Jeremy Johnson inside the victim’s second-floor rowhouse apartment on the 300 block of East Marshall Street.

Shortly after 4 a.m., Smith allegedly called 911 and stated that he “just had to defend myself,” according to the affidavit of probable cause.

When police arrived, Smith was on the sidewalk and directed an officer to the apartment and pointed inside the open front door, where the officer saw a 9mm handgun on the floor, the affidavit said. Inside the second-floor apartment, the officer found Johnson dead with a gunshot wound to his chest.

During later questioning by detectives, Smith allegedly explained that he and Johnson were “getting high” and then Johnson “went to the dark side, … so I defended myself.”

Police found a machete and sheath on the ground near Johnson’s body. According to the affidavit, Smith was seen several times on video from a nearby Ring camera carrying the machete as he enters and exits the apartment.

Smith has a criminal conviction record dating back to 2002, including several convictions for driving under the influence and a negotiated guilty plea in 2013 in Philadelphia for aggravated assault, according to court records. Based on that Philadelphia conviction, Smith was prohibited from possessing a firearm.

The handgun found at the scene was a Canik TP9 series model with an intact serial number, however a preliminary ownership check came back with “no record found,” according to the affidavit.