Murder Defendant Appears in District Court on Drug Charges

The 20-year-old man accused in the appeared in Phoenixville district court briefly on Thursday.

Saleem Williams of Sharon Hill faces a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver along with misdemeanor charges of drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia stemming from .

Williams, along with Monique Robinson, 18, of Phoenixville, and Stephen Reidler, 24, of Linfield, is awaiting trial on murder charges in connection with the Sept. 14 shooting death of 22-year-old Lopez-Mauricio.

Police allege that when they arrested Williams less than a week after the murder on warrants, they found bags of marijuana on him during a search. Williams and Reidler were taken into custody on Sept. 20 at the corner of Bridge and Main streets in Phoenixville.

When police searched him, they allegedly found a large bag in his left front pants pocket that contained smaller bags filled with a substance that field-tested positive for marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. Williams allegedly also had a small screw-top container that had marijuana in it.

During a brief appearance before District Judge Theodore Michaels on Thursday, all of the charges were waived to county court.

Williams isn’t the only defendant in the murder facing additional charges. An investigation into a Sept. 7 burglary led to , who allegedly broke into a Walnut Street home and stole prescription drugs two weeks before the murder. All charges in that case were held for court.

Robinson also faced an additional charge of flight to avoid apprehension, which was tacked on with the murder charges. After months on the run, to authorities on Dec. 27.

Jose Parra, a spokesman for the murder victim’s family, said he was disappointed that the family was not informed of Williams’ appearance in court Thursday. Parra was in court for another matter and was not aware that Williams was to come before the judge.

He said family members are hoping to meet with new Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan to discuss the murder charges and the trial and to get more information on the autopsy and the emergency care Lopez-Mauricio received on the scene shortly after he was shot in the 100 block of Prospect Street.

Regarding the drug charges, Williams has a formal arraignment scheduled for March 1. A $15,000 cash bail was set for the drug charges. For the murder charges, bail was denied for all three defendants.