NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man entered a not guilty plea to charges he fatally stabbed a Pottstown man with whom he was romantically involved in 2019 and learned prosecutors won’t seek the death penalty if he’s convicted of first-degree murder at trial.
Keshaun L. Sheffield, 20, waived his formal arraignment hearing in Montgomery County Court on Wednesday and entered not guilty pleas to charges of first- and third-degree murder, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, receiving stolen property and access device fraud in connection with the alleged Aug. 19, 2019, fatal stabbing of his boyfriend, 22-year-old Rashid Young.
It is during a formal arraignment hearing that prosecutors must inform a judge if they plan to seek the death penalty for a conviction of first-degree murder.
Deputy District Attorney Thomas W. McGoldrick explained that based on the legal standards and the factors prosecutors can consider under the law, they are not seeking a death sentence in the event Sheffield is convicted of first-degree murder, which is an intentional killing.
“As a matter of practice our office reviews every single first-degree homicide case to see if it is eligible for the death penalty and then we look at all of the circumstances and make a decision as to whether or not it’s appropriate to pursue the death penalty,” McGoldrick explained after the hearing.
In order to obtain a death penalty, prosecutors must show that aggravating factors – circumstances that make a killing more heinous – outweigh any mitigating factors – circumstances that favor a defendant. Specifically, prosecutors have about 18 aggravating factors, under state law, which they can use to seek the death penalty.
“When we looked at the facts of the case we realized that there are no aggravating circumstances present. Although it is a first-degree murder charge we don’t think it is eligible for the death penalty as a matter of law. It’s simply not a death penalty case,” added McGoldrick who is handling the case with co-prosecutor Gabrielle Hughes.
With the death penalty off the table, Sheffield would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment if he’s convicted of the first-degree murder charge.
A conviction of third-degree murder carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.
Sheffield, who is represented by defense lawyer Marni Jo Snyder, showed no outward emotion during the brief arraignment hearing before Judge William R. Carpenter.
Snyder informed the judge the defense team is in the process of developing a so-called “mitigation package” to present to the district attorney’s office for potential resolution of the case, presumably without going to trial. During a preliminary hearing earlier this year, Snyder argued prosecutors didn’t provide evidence of specific intent to kill, a requirement for a first-degree murder conviction. She argued prosecutors presented evidence of self-defense.
Sheffield, of the 6700 block of Musgrave Street, will remain in the county jail without bail pending the outcome of his case.
Young’s remains were discovered inside a shallow grave at Awbury Arboretum in Philadelphia on Sept. 30, 2019. Philadelphia homicide detectives were not able to identify the victim at that time.
An Oct. 1, 2019, autopsy on the skeletal and decomposed remains determined the victim suffered multiple stab wounds to the back, chest and neck and the death was ruled a homicide, according to court papers.
Recent information, including dental records, allowed authorities to positively identify Young earlier this year.
The ensuing investigation revealed that on Aug. 21, 2019, Pottstown police responded to Young’s apartment in the 200 block of East High Street for a report of a flooded apartment. No one was present at the apartment but police said the apartment was in disarray and damaged with holes in the walls, broken doors and trash strewn throughout.
Police later reached Sheffield by phone and Sheffield claimed he had a domestic dispute with Young on Aug 19 after Sheffield told Young he was leaving him. Sheffield, who was 17 at the time, claimed he left the apartment and that Young didn’t take the news well. Sheffield allegedly told police he was concerned for Young’s well-being because he had been unable to contact him.
Young’s relatives told police that Sheffield and Young had known each other for two years “and had a relationship that was volatile and at times, violent,” county Detective John Wittenberger and Pottstown Detective Sgt. Edward Kropp Jr. wrote in the arrest affidavit.
On Dec. 16, 2019, Sheffield contacted Pottstown police to report Young missing and maintained that he had last seen Young on the day of the August domestic dispute, according to the criminal complaint. Several of Young’s relatives also reported Young missing in December 2019 and told police the last time they spoke to Young was on Aug. 19, 2019.
The investigation revealed that Young had a trust fund in excess of $2 million and authorities eventually uncovered numerous bank transfers from that fund to Sheffield’s bank accounts around the time of Young’s disappearance, according to court documents.
The trust fund eventually was frozen in December 2019, court documents indicate.
Young’s relatives later told detectives that after August 2019 they had received text messages or social media messages, presumably from Young, stating that he was ceasing contact with his family and friends. However, family members grew suspicious because the sentence structure of the messages made them believe Young was not the person sending the messages, detectives alleged.
“Detectives suspected Sheffield maintained possession of Young’s phone following his disappearance and had access to Young’s social media accounts,” Wittenberger and Kropp alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Detectives reviewed GPS and internet data and Facebook data that suggested that the device used to access Young’s Facebook account during the time he was missing was in the area of Sheffield’s Philadelphia residence.
On May 28, detectives interviewed an unidentified witness who claimed to be in an intimate relationship with Sheffield during the time Sheffield was residing with Young in Pottstown. That witness told detectives that sometime in August 2019, Sheffield told him that he stabbed and killed Young in the living room of the Pottstown apartment during a fight because he “had to,” according to the criminal complaint.
That witness claimed that he helped Sheffield dig a hole at the arboretum during the nighttime hours but that they departed the area before burying the body because it began to rain or Sheffield heard something, according to court papers. The witness claimed Sheffield later told him that someone else eventually helped Sheffield bury the body in the hole. However, Sheffield did not reveal the identity of the person who helped, the witness told detectives.
Authorities alleged Sheffield had removed Young’s body from the apartment by placing it inside a recycling container. Previous testimony revealed that the recycling container was found about 10 feet from the shallow hole where Young’s remains were discovered at the arboretum.
The container was marked “Property of Pottstown Borough,” and investigators subsequently traced an identifying number on the trash container to a property in the 200 block of East High Street that housed the apartment once shared by Young and Sheffield.
