After a botched home invasion in Lower Merion ended with the intruders killing a man and grievously wounding his mother late last year, Charles Fulforth and Kelvin Roberts — the men convicted of first-degree murder in the case — became main characters in a chilling tale of a break-in gone wrong.
But a third man, who prosecutors say inspired the two men to commit the December 2024 burglary gone awry, received less attention for his alleged role in the incident.
That changed Monday, as Jeremy Fuentes went on trial for second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary in connection with the break-in.
In what prosecutors called an act of “ultimate evil,” Fulforth and Roberts forced their way into Bernadette Gaudio’s Main Line home that evening, believing there were guns inside to steal.
But the men, both employees at the junk removal business Junkluggers, did not realize they had targeted the wrong address and that they were supposed to be in Bucks County rather than Montgomery.
The robbery ended with one of the intruders shooting Gaudio in her bed, paralyzing her from the neck down, while her 25-year-old son, Andrew, was shot and killed while confronting her attacker.
While prosecutors acknowledge that Fuentes, 27, was never at Gaudio’s home that night, they said he — who was also a Junkluggers employee and had spotted the guns at the Bucks County home while working a job there — encouraged Fulforth to commit the robbery and thus, was an accomplice in the crime.
Fuentes “helped to carry out that home invasion for the possibility of his own personal profit,” Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood said in her opening statement to the jury that will decide Fuentes’ fate.
Ringwood said jurors should consider that a second-degree murder conviction means somebody was killed during the commission of a crime — including robbery or burglary —and that the person charged does need to have intended for a death to happen to be found guilty.
The prosecutor said Fuentes had a history of stealing and reselling guns as well as making weapons with a 3D printer to sell illegally. In a separate criminal case in Montgomery County, Fuentes faces 17 counts of illegally selling firearms and a litany of other charges related to those accusations.
Ringwood said that in the coming days, the jury should expect to see text messages sent before the robbery in which Fuentes tells Fulforth of a house with “two old people and a whole lot of guns.”
Fuentes’ defense attorney, Matthew Quigg, told the jury that prosecutors would not be able to tie his client to Fulforth — either through witness testimony or evidence.
He said what happened to the Gaudio family on that winter night was a “tragedy,” but urged the jury to “set aside emotion” as they weighed the evidence in the case.
“What you’re not going to hear is that Mr. Fuentes knew Charles Fulforth was going to commit this burglary,” Quigg said.