PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to at least a decade behind bars for killing his girlfriend and dumping her body in a West Philadelphia trash can.
Ricardo Ponds, 61, was sentenced on Tuesday to 10-20 years in prison, after he pleaded guilty in April to third-degree murder, abuse of corpse and a firearms charge.
His girlfriend Deborah Leatherberry, 54, was found dead in a garbage can in Lucien Blackwell Park, along 47th Street near Fairmount Avenue, in Jan. 2025. Officials said she had been shot in the left side of the head.
A park worker discovered her body. Detectives ultimately identified Leatherberry as the victim and Ponds as their suspect. Prosecutors had detailed a bloody scene found inside their apartment.
