MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — A trial is underway for the third man charged with murder in December’s home invasion in Lower Merion. Prosecutors say while the 27-year-old wasn’t in the home that night, he was the one who set the fatal burglary into motion.
Prosecutor Brianna Ringwood told jurors during opening statements Monday that under the law, Jeremy Fuentes is guilty of second-degree murder, even if he wasn’t at the Meredith Road home on Dec. 8, when 25-year-old Andrew Gaudio was shot and killed, and his mother, paralyzed, because Ringwood said Fuentes agreed to and helped plan the burglary that resulted in Gaudio’s death.
Ringwood said just days before the murder, Fuentes went to a home in Bucks County to give a quote as part of his job at Junk Luggers in Willow Grove. She said when Fuentes saw a large gun safe in the basement, he called his co-worker, Charles Fulforth.
Ringwood said Fuentes and Fulforth were part of a gun trafficking ring, and Fuentes saw an opportunity to make money.
Fulforth and Kelvin Roberts confused the address and ended up at the Gaudios’ home. They were both convicted of first-degree murder in July.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence, but Fuentes’s lawyer told jurors there is no evidence showing Fuentes agreed to, helped plan, or even knew about the home invasion until several days later.