Joshua Benner, 28, of Telford, left, and Ronald Shock, 35, of Boyertown, right.
A Telford Borough man has been charged with criminal homicide – drug delivery resulting in death, in connection with the May 2020 overdose death of 35-year-old Ramon Morales, of Douglass Township.
According to the criminal complaint, Pottstown Police were dispatched to Pottstown Hospital at 2:45 a.m. on May 7, 2020, for a report of an unresponsive male found outside of the hospital. Investigators said the male was located in a grassy area between the emergency room and the parking lot, and he had no identification, cellphone or keys.
The report notes that the male — later identified as Morales — was in clothes that were soaking wet, despite no recent rain. Medical personnel were unable to revive Morales, and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
Following an autopsy by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, Morales’ cause of death was determined to be a combination of fentanyl and cocaine intoxication, the report states. Pottstown Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau then launched a joint investigation into Morales’ death.
Investigators reviewed hospital surveillance footage, which showed a dark-colored hatchback vehicle in the hospital parking lot at 2:22 a.m., which was later identified as a Dodge Caliber that was registered to 28-year-old Joshua Benner, of Telford. Two days later, Douglass Township Police located Morales’ work van parked outside of an apartment belonging to 35-year-old Ronald Shock, and they located Benner’s Dodge Caliber in the same parking lot.
Investigators said that through multiple interviews, audio recordings and cellphone records, they determined that Benner traveled with a friend to Philadelphia on May 6 to purchase cocaine and heroin/fentanyl. The report states that later that evening, Benner sold some of the drugs to Shock and Morales, and the trio consumed them at Shock’s apartment around 11 p.m.
Morales would then overdose around 11:30 p.m., police said.
The report states that from the time of the overdose through the time the vehicle was seen at the hospital, Benner and Shock made no effort to seek medical treatment for Morales or dial 9-1-1. Investigators said Benner and Shock tried to “wake up” Morales by placing him in the shower, then they cleaned Shock’s apartment to eliminate evidence, fabricated and rehearsed their story and disposed of Morales’ car keys, cellphone and wallet.
“Instead of calling 911 to summon medical help for someone who they knew was overdosing, these defendants waited approximately three hours before dumping his body outside of a hospital after it was too late for anyone to help Mr. Morales,” said DA Steele. “Ramon Morales died from these deadly drugs that were sold to him by a dealer and then their casual disregard for his life caused him to suffer and die right in front of these two defendants while they did nothing. We will seek justice for Mr. Morales.”
As a result of the investigation:
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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