UPPER DARBY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — An Upper Darby man charged in a shooting and robbery at a SEPTA trolley station now faces at least a decade behind bars, after pleading guilty to what officials called a “drug deal gone bad.”
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer says it was in February 2022 when 23-year-old Jamel Davis arranged to buy marijuana from someone at the Edmonds Avenue and Jones Street trolley station in Upper Darby.
“Instead,” Stollsteimer said, “he tried to steal the marijuana from the drug dealer.” Authorities say that theft turned into a robbery, and that robbery turned into Davis shooting the would-be seller.
After the shooting, Stollsteimer says, Davis ran from the scene, but the law was not far behind him.
“Thankfully, by some incredible work by the Upper Darby Police Department, they were able to get surveillance video,” said Stollsteimer. “They were able to follow a series of forensic and other leads that got them to Jamel Davis, and they made the arrest.”
Davis pleaded guilty this week to a number of first-degree felonies, including robbery, possession of a firearm by a person prohibited, and conspiracy to robbery. He will be sentenced later this year and faces at least 10 years in prison.
“It’s one thing for somebody to stiff a drug dealer and try to steal the product without paying for it, but it’s another to whip out a gun and to shoot him in front of a trolley stop,” said Stollsteimer. “It potentially could have killed this poor victim.”