Jury deadlocked at trial of 2 men accused in Schuylkill River Trail slaying

NORRISTOWN — A Montgomery County jury was deadlocked on homicide charges at the trial of two men accused of the gunshot slaying of a Lower Providence man on the Schuylkill River Trail in West Norriton.

After eight hours of deliberations over two days, a jury of seven women and five men notified Judge William R. Carpenter that they were “hung and no further deliberations will help,” at the trial of Cody Kavon Reed, 24, of the 300 block of West Marshall Street, Norristown, and Marquise Alexander Johnson, 24, of the 500 block of East Johnson Street, Philadelphia.

The jury did not reveal the exact split.

Reed and Johnson showed no emotion in the courtroom as the jury announced the deadlock and Carpenter declared a mistrial.

Carpenter immediately excused the jury and prosecutors said they will retry Reed and Johnson, who are charged in connection with the alleged 9 p.m. March 2, 2023, robbery and gunshot slaying of Daquan Tucker, 25, formerly of Reading but who most recently lived along Rogers Road in Lower Providence.

“We are upset and disappointed,” Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Alane McLaughlin said afterward, adding prosecutors believe they presented evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Reed and Johnson are responsible for Tucker’s death. “As a result of this, the commonwealth will be retrying this case and will be again asking for a verdict of first-degree murder.”

Carpenter has not yet scheduled a retrial date.

Reed and Johnson will remain in jail without bail pending the retrial.

“I’m a little disappointed. I thought that we had a very good chance at a not guilty verdict. We have to do it again, unfortunately. I plan on staying in the case,” said defense lawyer Brendan Michael Campbell, who represented Reed.

“I’d be happier if it was a not guilty verdict but we can try the case again and see if that happens the next time,” said Dennis Caglia, who represents Johnson.

Reed and Johnson each face charges of first-, second-, and third-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, persons not to possess a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license, flight to avoid apprehension and possessing an instrument of crime.

A conviction of first-degree murder, an intentional killing, or second-degree murder, a killing that occurs during the course of another felony such as robbery, carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. A conviction of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.

During the trial, McLaughlin and co-prosecutor Attorney Caitlin Faith O’Malley alleged Reed and Johnson had a plan to take Tucker to the popular recreational trail to “execute” him.

Even though there were no eyewitnesses to the killing and no gun was found and no one knows who fired the fatal shots, prosecutors argued circumstantial evidence pointed to Reed and Johnson as the killers. Reed and Johnson were charged with homicide under accomplice liability theories.

Prosecutors argued Tucker was robbed of his wallet and cellphone during the fatal encounter.

McLaughlin and O’Malley argued it was no coincidence that Reed and Johnson were the last people seen with Tucker and that they were in possession of his cellphone after he was killed.

But Campbell argued that while all three men were hanging out together at some point that night there is no DNA, fingerprint or gun evidence to link Reed to Tucker’s death.

Caglia argued prosecutors didn’t have sufficient evidence that any agreement existed between Johnson and Reed and suggested Tucker lived “a dangerous life” and could have been targeted by someone else.

Caglia and Campbell argued no one knows what happened to Tucker between 9 p.m. March 2 and 9 a.m. March 3 when his body was discovered along the trail by a recreational bicyclist.  The defense lawyers argued prosecutors presented no evidence that Reed and Johnson had a motive to kill Tucker.

Prosecutors didn’t have to present a motive for the killing.

Reed and Johnson, who authorities said fled from the area, remained on the lam until April 6, 2023, when they were apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlantic City.

The investigation began about 9:03 a.m. March 3, 2023, when a citizen riding his bicycle along the Schuylkill River Trail on the border of Norristown and West Norriton called 911 to report seeing a body in a wooded area between the trail and the Schuylkill River, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective John Wittenberger and West Norriton Detective Mark Wassmer.

Arriving officers found a man, later determined to be Tucker, “lying in the wooded area down a steep embankment, approximately 100 feet from the trail,” with apparent gunshot wounds. Detectives recovered two .40-caliber fired cartridge casings in close proximity to Tucker, court documents indicate.

Detectives testified the casings were fired from the same unknown firearm.

Detectives testified investigators found no identification, no cellphone and no wallet with Tucker. Detectives used a fingerprint scanner to identify Tucker.

A forensic pathologist determined Tucker died of multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was ruled to be homicide.

Testimony revealed a female friend of Tucker’s phoned a brother of Tucker in the early morning hours of March 3 out of concern that Tucker never arrived at the residence they shared as planned by 11 p.m. March 2 and that he was missing. The woman, who was dating Tucker, subsequently told detectives she believed a man named “Cody” sent an Uber to their residence for Tucker earlier and Tucker left in the Uber and hadn’t been seen since then, according to testimony.

Witnesses said when they checked Tucker’s location on the “Find My iPhone” feature it indicated his location was on the Schuylkill River Trail near Norristown between 8:57 p.m. and 9 p.m. March 2 in the exact location where his body eventually was found. A check of Tucker’s cellphone location at 10:06 p.m. on March 2 indicated it was in the area of the 1000 block of West Airy Street, authorities said.

Detectives obtained video surveillance footage that showed Tucker arriving at Reed’s residence a little after 7 p.m. March 2. Surveillance footage at 8:39 p.m. showed Reed, Tucker and Johnson, all of whom knew each other, walking toward the Schuylkill River Trail, according to court papers.

“The three then walked to a secluded area of the Schuylkill River Trail in West Norriton Township where Tucker was shot numerous times and killed and his property removed from him,” Wittenberger and Wassmer alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Video surveillance captured Reed and Johnson walking along West Airy Street at 10:06 p.m., the same place and time that witnesses previously told detectives the “Find My iPhone” feature located Tucker’s phone. Investigators alleged Reed and Johnson were in possession of Tucker’s cellphone after he had been shot and killed.

At 10:21 p.m., video surveillance depicted Reed and Johnson returning to Reed’s apartment on West Marshall Street, according to the arrest affidavit.

Court documents alleged Reed has “an extensive and violent criminal history with numerous assault and robbery charges” dating back 2016, including adjudications as a juvenile, with arrests in Hatfield, Franconia and Lower Salford townships. Reed also previously was convicted of robbery in Bucks County Court, in connection with a 2018 incident in Richland Township, according to court papers. In September 2021, Reed was arrested by Hatfield police on charges of  persons not to possess firearms and related offenses and was free on bail awaiting court action on those charges at the time of Tucker’s killing, court documents alleged.

Authorities alleged Johnson’s criminal history also dated back to 2016 and included arrests as a juvenile in Hatfield. In September 2018, Johnson was charged by Quakertown police with aggravated assault and a weapons charge to which he eventually pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison, according to a criminal complaint, and was released from prison in September 2022.