With help of DNA evidence, Norristown man charged in April home-invasion homicide, police say
Brandon M. Thompson, 32, was one of two masked men who killed and robbed Alonzo J. Anthony, 28, in Anthony's Norristown apartment this spring.
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LNOFKU4NYNEHBGBSB5TSDFUQRA.jpg)
Two masked men broke into an alleged drug dealer’s Norristown apartment one night this April; shot and killed him; grabbed cash, marijuana, and a cell phone; and fled, authorities said.
One of those men, Brandon M. Thompson, 32, spent five months on the run, police said, before being arrested last weekend and charged with second- and third-degree murder, burglary, and related offenses. The other person remains at large.
Thompson, of Norristown and Harleysville, and his unknown companion killed Alonzo J. Anthony, 28, while Anthony’s roommate and her two young children were home, authorities said.
After fleeing the scene on the 300 block of Fornance Street, Thompson dropped a black-knit hat he had been wearing, thus leaving behind some DNA, according to charging documents. A couple of weeks ago, authorities said, the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic DNA Division confirmed that the DNA on the hat matched the profile of Thompson, who had previously bought narcotics from Anthony.
Thompson is being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail. He awaits a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 11. No attorney for him was listed on court documents as of Monday.
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office asked anyone with information about the April 2 killing or the other suspect to call the Norristown Police Department at 610-270-0977 or the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368.