Current:Home > Contact-usMan pleads to 3rd-degree murder, gets 24 to 40 years in 2016 slaying of 81-year-old store owner-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Man pleads to 3rd-degree murder, gets 24 to 40 years in 2016 slaying of 81-year-old store owner
View Date:2024-12-23 14:39:34
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the shooting death of a south Philadelphia corner store owner on Christmas Eve nearly seven years ago.
Maurice Green, 38, was sentenced to serve from 24 to 40 years in state prison last week on the murder charge and a related gun offense in the 2016 murder of 81-year-old Marie Buck.
“To shoot an unarmed, helpless 81-year-old woman … over a fight over a necklace is incomprehensible,” said Common Pleas Judge Glenn Bronson, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Prosecutor Joanne Pescatore said Green intended to kill another person he blamed for the theft of his $5,500 gold chain but that person wasn’t in the store that morning.
Green expressed remorse and apologized to the family in court Monday, saying he couldn’t bear to look Buck’s family in the eye and would give “an arm, a leg,” if he could to atone. He recalled growing up down the street from Marie’s Grocery and buying sandwiches there.
“I feel as though she haunts me at night,” Green said of Buck, who ran the store for more than 40 years and was a month from retirement.
A jury convicted Green of first-degree murder in a 2019 retrial after his first trial ended in a hung jury. He was sentenced to life without parole, but an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2021, saying the trial judge shouldn’t have allowed prosecutors to present evidence of a previous crime for which the defendant was never arrested or convicted.
Pescatore called the case “a sad commentary on drugs in this city” and said the family “just want this over with.” Family members, some crying, sat together in the courtroom during the proceedings.
“I just don’t think I could’ve went through another trial,” said Buck’s daughter, Marie, 62, who lives with her 87-year-old father two doors down from the former store now used as a medical office. “I miss her more than life itself,” she said.
veryGood! (219)
Related
- Kelly Rowland and Nelly Reunite for Iconic Performance of Dilemma 2 Decades Later
- Too early or not soon enough? Internet reacts to Starbucks dropping Pumpkin Spice Lattes Aug. 22
- Transgender Texans blocked from changing their sex on their driver’s license
- Horoscopes Today, August 22, 2024
- What do nails have to say about your health? Experts answer your FAQs.
- Former New Hampshire lawmaker loses right to vote after moving out of his district
- University of Maine System to study opening state’s first public medical school
- The clothing we discard is a problem. How do we fix that? | The Excerpt
- 4 arrested in California car insurance scam: 'Clearly a human in a bear suit'
- Too early or not soon enough? Internet reacts to Starbucks dropping Pumpkin Spice Lattes Aug. 22
Ranking
- Repair Hair Damage In Just 90 Seconds With This Hack from WNBA Star Kamilla Cardoso
- Nelly Shares Glimpse Into Ashanti’s Motherhood Journey After Welcoming Baby Boy
- Pink joined by daughter Willow in moving acoustic performance at DNC
- Evictions for making too many 911 calls happen. The Justice Department wants it to stop.
- Investigators believe Wisconsin kayaker faked his own death before fleeing to eastern Europe
- Chris Olsen, nude photos and when gay men tear each other down
- Injured Montana man survives on creek water for 5 days after motorcycle crash on mountain road
- US Postal Service to discuss proposed changes that would save $3 billion per year, starting in 2025
Recommendation
-
Atmospheric river to bring heavy snow, rain to Northwest this week
-
Texas blocks transgender people from changing sex on driver’s licenses
-
For many Asian Americans, Ferguson unrest set them on a path of resistance and reflection
-
Judge declines to dismiss murder case against Karen Read after July mistrial
-
Sister Wives’ Madison Brush Details Why She Went “No Contact” With Dad Kody Brown
-
Man caught on video stealing lemonade-stand money from Virginia 10-year-old siblings
-
California woman fed up with stolen mail sends Apple AirTag to herself to catch thief
-
Housing market showing glimmers of hope amid grim reports