NORRISTOWN (KYW Newsradio) — Two men accused of shooting and killing a 25-year-old along the Schuylkill River Trail in 2023 are being retried on murder and robbery charges after a hung jury earlier this year.
Cody Reed and Marquise Johnson, both 24 years old, are accused of leading Daquan Tucker onto the Schuylkill River Trail the night of March 2, 2023, and shooting him three times in the head.
His body was found by a cyclist on the trail the next morning.
In opening statements, prosecutor Caitlin O’Malley acknowledged the evidence in the case is circumstantial, but told jurors to use their common sense. She said three men walked into the woods, two walked out, one was found dead, and the two that walked out had the dead man’s phone and were on the run together for more than a month before they were caught.
She also noted the two were seen on surveillance video from businesses in Norristown walking with Tucker toward the trail around 8:30 p.m. on March 2 and leaving the trail around 10 p.m. without him.
But lawyers for Reed and Johnson say prosecutors don’t know what happened between 9 p.m. on March 2 when Tucker last talked to his girlfriend, and 9 a.m. on March 3 when his body was found. They say the weapon was never found, and nothing links Reed and Johnson to a firearm or Tucker’s murder.
A mistrial was declared in February after three days of testimony, as the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.