Arrests.
A Norristown man has been arrested and charged with first- and third-degree murder and other offenses in connection with the Wednesday morning murder of a man in an East Marshall Street apartment in Norristown.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Norristown Police Chief Jacqueline Bailey-Davis announced the arrest of Saleem Smith, 41, Wednesday afternoon.
Smith is also charged with illegal possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license, and possessing an instrument of crime, according to authorities.
On Wednesday at 4:08 a.m., Norristown Police were dispatched to 360 E. Marshall St. after a 911 call, police said.
Upon arrival, police found the door to the building wide open, and Smith standing on the sidewalk, authorities said.
Inside the building’s entryway, police found a semi-automatic handgun on the ground, per the report. Inside the apartment, police found Jeremy Johnson, 32, dead with a gunshot wound to his chest, authorities said. Detectives recovered three fired cartridge casings, two live rounds of 9mm ammo, a machete, and a machete sheath from inside the apartment.
A joint homicide investigation by Montgomery County Detectives and Norristown Police located video surveillance from the entryway to the apartment that allegedly shows Smith and Johnson going in and out of Johnson’s apartment several times, beginning at 1:30 a.m., authorities said.
At 4:07 a.m., Smith can be seen in the hallway outside of the apartment holding a firearm, police allege, and then he calls 911.
Police said Smith is awaiting arraignment at Montgomery County jail and there is no bail for first-degree murder.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
