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Montez Kent was involved in a physical altercation with Junior Pinnock near Ann and Barbadoes streets when he pulled a long-bladed knife from behind his back and tried stabbing him around 9 p.m., Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Norristown Police Chief Mark E. Talbot Sr. said.
Kent lunged at Pinnock, but he knocked the knife away, police said. That's when a second male shot Pinnock multiple times, then both men ran back to a dark-colored vehicle and fled the scene, authorities said.
Pinnock was rushed to Suburban Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The scene was processed, and four 9mm cartridge casings were recovered as well as the sheaf, blade and handle of a long-bladed knife, Talbot and Steele said.
An autopsy was conducted on April 26, 2021 by Dr. Frederic Hellman of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, which determined that Pinnock died of multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide.
Witness interviews and surveillance videos that that Pinnock had come to the area looking for Kent and called him when he found he wasn’t in an area home, police said.
Soon after, a dark-colored vehicle parked in the nearby county-owned parking lot. Kent and another man got out of the vehicle, and that's when the physical fight broke out.
Kent was arrested and charged with First-Degree Murder, Third-Degree Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Possessing an Instrument of Crime. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Margaret Hunsicker.
There was no bail available for First-Degree Murder, and the defendant was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m., May 7, 2021 before Magisterial District Judge Greg Scott.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Chief of Trials Roderick Fancher and Assistant District Attorney William Highland, with the Norristown Community Justice Unit.
The investigation is continuing. 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).
Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the STOPit! app. The STOPit! app can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids, then use code MONTCOPA to get the Montgomery County version of the app.
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