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Pottstown teens charged in woman’s murder

Aaron Joseph Taylor, 18, of Pottstown, was charged in the murder of 38-year-old Sylvia Williams, also of Pottstown, on Nov. 18, 2018.

Aaron Joseph Taylor, 18, of Pottstown, was charged with murdering and robbing 38-year-old Sylvia Williams at her Pottstown home on Nov. 18, 2018.
Aaron Joseph Taylor, 18, of Pottstown, was charged with murdering and robbing 38-year-old Sylvia Williams at her Pottstown home on Nov. 18, 2018.Read moreCourtesy Montgomery County District Attorney's Office

A pair of teens have been charged in the slaying of a 38-year-old Pottstown woman during a botched robbery attempt inside her home a little over a week ago, authorities said Tuesday.

Aaron Joseph Taylor, 18, and Camren Williams, 17, both of Pottstown, were arrested Monday by Pottstown police in the death of Sylvia Williams from a gunshot wound to the head, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said.

Taylor was charged with second- and third-degree murder, robbery, conspiracy, and other crimes, authorities said. Camren Williams was charged with robbery and conspiracy.

Williams, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case, told detectives he and Taylor had targeted Williams' home because they believed it belonged to a "big drug dealer."

On Nov. 18, officials said, the teens pushed into Williams' home on North Washington Street around 6:30 p.m., while a maintenance worker was changing the lock on the front door.  One of them pointed a gun at the repairman and told him to stay put, then forced him into the kitchen, according to the complaint.

Williams and her boyfriend, Aries Rumley Sr., 36, were in a bedroom upstairs when they heard yelling. He headed downstairs to see what was going on, and soon saw an armed and masked man. He returned to the second-floor bedroom and shut the door, holding it tight with his feet.

The robbers followed him upstairs, tried to force the door, and then fired.

The criminal complaint says Rumley heard one shot, "then noticed Sylvia Williams was not moving and was bleeding from her head."

The complaint further states that Williams later told police that he saw Taylor fire.

The teens, who did not take anything from Sylvia Williams' house, fled in a light-colored Honda sedan registered to Camren Williams' girlfriend, an 18-year-old from Reading. She was not charged.

Authorities suspect the Honda was used in other armed robberies around Pottstown, although they did not say whether either Taylor or Williams had been charged in those crimes. The Williamses are not related.

Taylor was denied bail when arraigned Tuesday. Williams was sent to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after he was unable to post $99,000 bail.