Guilty plea expected in killing of Officer Skerski

The man charged with the slaying last year of Philadelphia Police Officer Gary Skerski has agreed to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, a police official confirmed today.

Solomon Montgomery, 25, is expected to enter his plea Tuesday in exchange for life without parole, the police official said.

Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham, declined to comment. Montgomery's defense lawyer could not be reached for comment.

"As much as [the prosecutors] want to get the death penalty, they know how much the family has to go through" with a lengthy trial, said the police official, who asked not to be identified.

Skerski, 46, who was married and had two children, was responding to a robbery-in-progress call May 8 at Pat's Café in the Lower Northeast when he was shot in the throat with a shotgun.

At a preliminary hearing, the prosecution presented a surveillance video from the bar that showed the robbery. The prosecution also produced DNA evidence it said matched Montgomery. The DNA was recovered from skin cells found on a shotgun shell casing at the scene.

Montgomery was arrested 10 days after the robbery.