NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — It didn't take long for a jury to find 63-year-old William Torres guilty of first-degree murder for the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, 58-year-old Jeanne Edwards.
In 2019, Torres, a tennis pro at the time, bought a shotgun from a gun shop in Maryland minutes after he got off the phone with Edwards. He then drove an hour-and-a-half to her Huntingdon Valley home and shot her twice, killing her.
On Wednesday, a Montgomery County jury took the same amount of time to find him guilty. Torres received a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
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Torres took the stand earlier, where he told the jury that Edwards “destroyed me the way she talked to me.” He said he had planned to shoot himself at Edwards’ home, but she tried to calm him down and hug him.
When she pushed the gun away, he said it went off, hitting her in the stomach. As he stood up, it went off again, hitting her in the chest.
In closing arguments, his lawyer, Carrie Allman, told the jury that trying to calm down an overdramatic boyfriend is a recipe for disaster, but it’s not murder. She argued it is at worst involuntary manslaughter, as it was an accident.
But prosecutor Brianna Ringwood countered Torres was angry that Edwards didn’t love him the way he loved her. She said he drove to her home for retribution.
Ringwood said Torres first formed the intent to kill Edwards when he bought the shotgun — which, she noted, he had to pump to reload before firing a second time.
She also said after the shooting, Torres “called two girlfriends but did not call 911.”
Ringwood even used his own quote on the stand against him: “She ruined my life.” She said all the jury needed to reach a first-degree murder verdict is that and the fact that Edwards was shot twice with a pump-action shotgun.