Delco man who killed a man in Norristown sentenced to state prison
Marquan Banks pleaded guilty to third-degree murder for shooting Jermaine Pierce outside a bar in Norristown.
A Chester Township man who told investigators he fatally shot a man in self-defense outside a Norristown bar has been sentenced to 18 to 36 years in state prison.
Marquan Banks, 26, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder on Thursday, preempting his scheduled trial next week on a first-degree murder charge.
Banks’ attorney, Brooks Thompson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman initially said Banks shot Jermaine Pierce, 37, on Jan. 11, carrying out a planned execution after seeing him earlier that day in a bar.
On Monday, she said that as more evidence was gathered in the case, it became evident that while Banks may not have planned the shooting, he was clearly the aggressor.
Banks’ lawyers contended that he shot at Pierce as the other man was crossing the street toward him “in a threatening manner,” wearing a ski mask and hiding his hands in his pockets.
Cauffman challenged that theory.
“If the defendant really thought his life in danger, and that’s why he acted way the did, that still doesn’t clear him if he didn’t retreat, or provoked the violence in the first place,” she said.
Surveillance video from the scene showed Banks and two other men arriving at Airy Tavern just before 7 on the night of the slaying. The men who were with Banks went inside and briefly spoke with Pierce, then left the premises along with Banks, who had remained outside.
Banks and his associates returned to the area around 7:30 p.m. and parked their vehicle near the intersection of Noble and Marshall Streets. The group then walked south on Noble and saw a friend of Pierce’s, Isaiah Bell, standing on the opposite corner.
As the men approached Bell, Pierce crossed the street toward them, and Banks raised a handgun and fired, striking Pierce in the left side of his head, prosecutors said.
Bell ran toward Pierce, pulled a gun from Pierce’s waistband and fired at Banks and the others.
Bell pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for that shooting, and was sentenced earlier this month to six to 23 months in county jail.