Three men who 'planned, robbed and fled together' convicted of murdering Norristown father

It took a Montgomery County jury a little under two hours Monday evening to convict three men of killing William Carter during a Norristown robbery that targeted him for his sports-gambling wins.

Carter’s family, including Tiara James, the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, cheered and hugged in their joy. They were thankful for the closure, James said, even if the decision by the jury won’t bring him back.

But across the hallway, the families of Jerry Butler, 29, Daquan Allen, 30, and Damon Brantley Jr., 18, wept at their convictions and the mandatory life sentences two of the men face.

Butler and Allen were convicted of second-degree murder, conspiracy, and robbery in the death of Carter, 35. Brantley, who fired the fatal shot during the Jan 20. robbery, was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and gun offenses.

Because Brantley was 17 at the time of the shooting, Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter will determine his sentence at a hearing later this week — he faces anywhere from 35 years in prison to life.

Attorneys for the three declined to comment after the verdict was handed down.

Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney said she appreciated the jury’s attention during the trial into what she described as Carter’s tragic killing.

“They clearly saw what we saw and the evidence showed, that these three men planned together, they robbed together, and they fled together,” she said.

Carter’s ex, Katherine Emel, testified during the four-day trial that she plotted the robbery with Allen because Carter was refusing to pay for their apartment and the car they shared, despite having recently won $3,000 betting on sports. Another key witness in the case was 17-year-old Justin Davis, who helped attack Carter during the robbery, but later testified against his friends and coconspirators.

Both Emel and Davis pleaded guilty to third degree murder in exchange for lesser sentences.

Attorneys for Butler, Allen and Brantley criticized the case built by prosecutors, saying they had relied too heavily on Emel and Davis in a case that was otherwise entirely circumstantial.

Emel and Davis were “unreliable narrators” according to Brantley’s attorney, Evan Kelly. The two initially lied to police about their involvement, and then created an explanation of the robbery that contained inconsistent details.

Allen’s attorney, Nicholas Reifsnyder, said that investigators were trying to build a case against specific people, coached Emel and Davis into implicating his client and the two other defendants, and bought their lies “hook, line and sinker.”

“They were not looking for the truth,” he said. “They were looking for evidence.”

Brooks Thompson, Butler’s attorney, said that Davis’ initial, contradictory statements to police show that he was only interested in protecting himself. And he felt “locked in” to that deal, unable to provide the truth at trial.

“It gives him no out and precludes him from coming to you, members of the jury, to say ‘This is what really happened,’” Thompson said.

But Assistant District Attorney Meghan Carney disputed those criticisms of the case in her own closing arguments. She urged jurors to convict all three men, saying the prosecution against them, though informed by Emel and Davis, was corroborated by cell phone data, DNA, and other evidence.

“They each had a role to play,” Carney said.

Allen previously sold ecstasy to Emel and had gotten into a heated confrontation with Carter weeks before his murder, according to evidence presented at trial. He had no qualms plotting against Carter, Carney said, and was given Carters’ location on the day of the murder by Emel, who had placed a GPS tracker in the Buick she shared with him.

Butler was the “muscle,” according to Carney, and rifled through Carter’s pockets during the robbery, stealing his cell phone and money.

Brantley, she said, was the triggerman, supplying both the 9mm handgun used to kill Carter and the Toyota RAV-4 — reported stolen out of Cheltenham — that Allen drove to the robbery. Brantley later destroyed the RAV-4 by setting it on fire.

Though the gun used in the robbery was never recovered, Brantley’s girlfriend testified that she had seen a similar gun, with an extended magazine, in the apartment they shared.

The trio were also arrested together days later in upstate New York, in a town none had any connection to.

“They would have to be the three unluckiest men in the world,” Carney said, “because every piece of evidence shows they were responsible for this robbery.”