Guilty plea in stomping death of neighbor
A West Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to third-degree murder Wednesday in the stomping death of a 63-year-old neighbor. Kareem Mosley, 24, entered the open guilty plea - meaning the defense and prosecution did not negotiate terms of the plea - before Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, who set sentencing for May 28.
A West Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to third-degree murder Wednesday in the stomping death of a 63-year-old neighbor.
Kareem Mosley, 24, entered the open guilty plea - meaning the defense and prosecution did not negotiate terms of the plea - before Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner, who set sentencing for May 28.
Assistant District Attorney Jan McDermott said Mosley faces 20 to 40 years in prison based on his plea.
Mosley was charged in the Dec. 29, 2012, death of Richard Eley, who lived for eight months after the attack in the vestibule of his house in the 800 block of South Vogdes Street. During that time, Eley was unconscious, and his limbs atrophied and contracted.
At a preliminary hearing last year, Mosley was identified by a passerby who testified that on April 1, 2012, he heard screams coming from the open door of Eley's house, and rushed in and pulled Mosley off the older man's body and threw him outside.
Defense attorney Gerald A. Stein said the incident happened during an argument between Mosley and Eley "that got out of hand."
Mosley pleaded guilty because "he feels bad about what happened," Stein said.
Relatives said Eley had a stroke five years before the attack but still lived on his own in the house with a cousin coming in to do his laundry and shopping.