Kelvin Roberts, 42 (Image courtesy of the Montgomery County DA)
Kelvin Roberts, of Philadelphia, and Charles Edward Fulforth, of the Jenkintown section of Abington Township, will be arraigned in February.
Two men who worked together at an Upper Moreland junk removal company had murder, robbery, burglary and other offenses held for trial in connection with their alleged roles in a home invasion robbery of the wrong house in a plot to steal guns from a safe which killed a man and injured his mother in Lower Merion Township.
Kelvin Roberts, 42, of the 7200 block of North 21st Street, Philadelphia, and Charles Edward Fulforth, 41, of the 1600 block The Fairway, in the Jenkintown section of Abington Township, will be arraigned in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court in February on charges of first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy in connection with the Dec. 8, 2024, fatal incident on the unit block of Meredith Road in Lower Merion.
Charles Fulforth, 41, of Jenkintown (Image courtesy of the Montgomery County DA)The homeowner, Bernadette Gaudio, 61, suffered gunshot wounds and survived the attack, but her son, Andrew, 25, was fatally shot during the 2:20 a.m. home invasion.
Roberts and Fulforth were coworkers at Junkluggers in Upper Moreland Township. According to The Mercury, authorities determined that on Dec. 6 employees of the business conducted an estimate for junk removal at a Bucks County residence that had an address similar to the Meredith Road residence. The estimate included photos of the junk, including of a large gun safe, according to court documents.
Following that estimate, the co-defendants were informed about guns being in the house. However, authorities allege the location of the intended house was lost in translation.
Andrew was shot execution style, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele at a December press conference. Bernadette was able to call 911 to report the shooting, Steele said.
“I believe Andrew fought back,” Steele said, “and tried to help his mom in the circumstance.”
Steele said authorities were hopeful that Bernadette’s condition would improve in the future.
“This was a terrible homicide. There were multiple shots that are fired, including one to the head of the victim, which, to me, is execution style,” Steele said.
Authorities, including the Township of Lower Merion Police Department and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau, said the home-invasion homicide occurred in the unit block of Meredith Road, in the Wynnewood section of Lower Merion Township on Sunday at about 2:20 a.m.
According to county dispatch, a call for a “shooting” was reported at 2:22 a.m. in the area with a female calling to say she was shot.
In the wake of the shooting, police were seeking a silver or white 4-door sedan with handicapped Pennsylvania license plates, “24963” displayed at the rear of the car, police said.
Police were also searching a 2004 green Jeep Cherokee, with Pennsylvania Registration license plate number: LFS6673, which was stolen during the home-invasion and later recovered Sunday night in West Philadelphia.
That vehicle led them to a home on Sansom Street and a search warrant was executed on the home. Steele said the car had a stolen tag that was registered to a deceased individual.
“One of the items found in the Sansom Street residence was a jewelry box, which was identified by Bernadette as hers,” Steele said. “They did steal it from the home and that equates to felony murder, which is murder in a home invasion, robbery or burglary.”
Ring cameras and other home security cameras in the area aided in the investigation, especially footage showing people bringing items into the Sansom Street home, Steele said.
“The jewelry box is key,” he said. “It shows that they were in the house, committed a burglary, a robbery, a home invasion, and we have evidence of that.”
According to court documents, Roberts is currently wanted for failure to appear at a preliminary hearing on a felony shoplifting and receiving stolen property case out of North Wales Borough in October 2024.
Roberts has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2003, including numerous felony drug dealing and illegal weapons possession convictions, per court records.
