Stray bullet kills man eating Thanksgiving dinner inside Norristown home, prosecutors say

An arrest warrant has been issued for Kevon Clarke, 19, of Basin Street in Norristown, on charges of first-degree murder and related offenses.

NORRISTOWN, Pa. - A man was struck and killed by a stray bullet while he was eating Thanksgiving dinner inside a Norristown home, according to prosecutors.

It happened on the 1100 block of Arch Street around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

When police arrived at the scene they found Edilberto Miguel Palaez Moctezuma, 25, with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he died.

Family members told police the victim was sitting at the table eating dinner when a single shot came through the window and struck him.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Kevon Clarke, 19, of Basin Street in Norristown, on charges of first-degree murder and related offenses.

"Mr. Palaez Moctezuma was murdered while eating Thanksgiving dinner inside his home, and to be clear, he and his family were not involved in the dispute between Clarke and others," said DA Kevin Steele. "This is the second innocent bystander killed this year by a senseless dispute that turned to gun violence by someone who is not even legally able to own a gun. We hold the people involved in this kind of violence accountable here in Montgomery County. We will find this shooter and the others involved in this killing and seek justice for the murder of an innocent man, who wasn’t safe even in the confines of his own home."

MORE LOCAL HEADLINES

An investigation found that the shooting was connected to a dispute that happened at a Thanksgiving dinner party at the 100 block of Haws Avenue earlier in the day, where four individuals, including Clarke and his girlfriend, were asked to leave.

Following their departure, investigators said alcohol was discovered missing and the girlfriend was texted about the theft by her cousin, who had also been at the party. Arrangements were made to return the alcohol outside of Clarke’s residence on Basin Street, turning it over to the cousin. The cousin parked her car outside the residence, saw Clarke exit the residence brandishing a gun and quickly drove off, authorities said. She heard multiple shots fired as she fled.

Detectives located seven projectiles in the area of Basin and Arch Streets, as well as one live round. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said the investigation determined through the use of two different surveillance videos and analysis of the bullet hole in the window that the shot fired into the Arch Street residence, killing Pelaez Moctezuma came from Clarke’s shooting location.

Authorities continue to search for Clarke and two men seen in the surveillance video running from the shooting scene.

The investigation is going.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Norristown Police Department at 610-270-0977 or call the Montgomery County Detectives’ Tip Line at 610-278-DOIT (3638).