NORRISTOWN, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The ex-girlfriend of a man who was shot and killed in a robbery in Norristown earlier this year testified Friday at the trial of the three men accused of the murder to say she set it all in motion.
Katherine Emel, 31, testified she and 35-year-old William Carter had broken up about six months before he was killed in a robbery on Powell and Wood streets in Norristown on Jan. 20.
She says they were still living together, but Carter had stopped chipping in money for rent and other bills.
She put a tracker in his car, and on the night of the robbery, shared Carter’s location with Daquan Allen, telling him Carter had recently won several thousand dollars gambling, and had the cash on him.
Prosecutors say Allen, 29-year-old Jerry Butler, and 18-year-old Damon Brantley, Jr. robbed Carter, and during the robbery, investigators say Brantley shot Carter in the head.
Emel testified she met Allen at a North Philadelphia gas station hours after the murder and he paid her $700.
On cross-examination, defense attorneys noted Emel initially lied to police, then, when she was caught in those lies, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors to avoid a life sentence. She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in June.
Emel is the second cooperating witness. A 17-year-old who pleaded guilty to taking part in the robbery testified against the three men earlier this week, in a deal that also spares him a potential life sentence.