‘Ultimate tragedy’: Levittown man, 25, pleads no contest in accidental killing of best friend

A Levittown man has entered a no-contest plea in the fatal shooting of his lifelong best friend, an incident that his attorney called a tragic accident.

Cory Ray, 25, had been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the January shooting of Jacob Pfeifer-Johnson. As part of his plea, Ray was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and was required to pay more than $5,000 in restitution.

Judge Jeffrey L. Finley, in handing down the sentence Monday, recognized Ray’s remorse.

“This is such a tragic loss, and the impact will be felt forever by his family and yours,” Finley told Ray.

Ray’s attorney, Louis Busico, said the plea was part of a concerted effort to spare the families of Ray and Pfeifer-Johnson from the “mental anguish” of a trial.

“It’s the ultimate tragedy to have two childhood friends, who were inseparable in school and inseparable outside of school ... and yet one is legally responsible for killing the other,” Busico said. “It’s very, very sad.”

Pfeifer-Johnson, 24, was shot once in the chest Jan. 16 in the kitchen of the home Ray shares with his parents, according to investigators. Ray told police officers who responded to the scene that the 9mm gun he was legally permitted to carry had gone off accidentally as he tried to remove its ammunition.

Ray had pulled back on the slide, ejecting a round from the gun’s chamber, but had forgotten to first remove the magazine from the handgun, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed in his arrest.

When Ray went to remove the magazine, his thumb slipped off the hammer of the gun, causing it to fire in the direction of Pfeifer-Johnson, who was standing nearby, the affidavit said. Pfeifer-Johnson was taken to a hospital and died the next day.

In court Monday, Ray said that he and Pfeifer-Johnson had been best friends since first grade, and had just returned to his home that day after a trip to Neshaminy Mall.

Throughout their friendship, he said, they had helped each other cope with personal losses in their families. Pfeifer-Johnson’s parents remain supportive of Ray, and keep in close contact with him, Busico said.

“I thought of him more as a brother, as part of my family, than my best friend,” Ray said, adding that he has been seeing a therapist since the incident.

“I’ve been having a really hard time dealing with what happened,” he added.

As a condition of his sentencing, Ray will be unable to purchase or own a firearm, and his gun license has been revoked.