Montgomery County, PA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2009

 

 

 

   

   

                  

          

 

Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman and Norristown Police Chief Russell J. Bono today announced the arrest of Stanley Howard for the murder of Noel Lopez-Garcia in Norristown on December 6, 2008.  The District Attorney has authorized that Howard be charged with First Degree Murder and related offenses. 

 

Howard’s arrest is the culmination of an extensive four-month joint investigation between Montgomery County Detectives and the Norristown Police Department into a spate of robberies in Norristown borough.  Two of these robberies resulted in murder.  Lopez-Garcia was murdered in the back stairwell of the Black Fan Apartments on Main Street in Norristown.  He was shot one time in the head at close range with a .357 revolver.  Jamal Terry was murdered on December 10, 2008 in the 1000 block of Powell Street during a robbery.  Investigators charged Howard and his co-defendant, Shawn Jacobs, with the Terry murder on December 17, 2008.  He is currently awaiting trial on those charges (Docket # 2058-09).

 

In addition to the two murder cases, Howard is also awaiting trial on a December 8, 2008 Norristown Robbery case (Docket # 2365-09).  In that case Howard is accused of robbing a Hispanic immigrant at gunpoint.

 

Howard was arraigned this afternoon before Magisterial District Judge Margaret Hunsicker. He is currently being held without bail on both murder cases.  The preliminary hearing in this matter is scheduled for April 16, 2009.

 

The case will be prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Christopher M. Maloney and Assistant District Attorney Juliet Faulkner.

 

     Approved for release:

 

 

 

     Risa Vetri Ferman