Lansdale man facing up to 20 years in prison after admitting to assault, wherein Hatfield man was repeatedly body slammed, causing skull fractures and brain injury
A Lansdale man will not be prosecuted on an attempted murder charge for violently assaulting and body slamming a Hatfield man in a driveway in November 2024, resulting in life-threatening injuries, including bleeding on the brain, a broken skull and fractured ribs and face.
Joshua Ronan, 30, had the attempted homicide charge dismissed Thursday at a guilty plea hearing, wherein he instead pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault with extreme indifference, according to court documents. Additional misdemeanor charges of assault, recklessly endangering another person, and possessing an instrument of crime were also dismissed.
Ronan awaits sentencing following a background investigation and drug and alcohol evaluations, per court records. He faces a minimum of 7 to 10 years in state prison, and a maximum of 20 years.
Ronan faces a minimum prison term of between 7 and 10 years when he’s sentenced later this year. The charge carries a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison.
Hatfield Police received a call around 11:11 p.m. Nov. 5, 2024, for an overdose, and responded to a residence on Cabin Road to find a man unresponsive in the driveway with blunt force trauma to his head, authorities said.
Before police arrived, Ronan was driven to his house by one of the residents. Detectives recovered a brick wrapped in a balaclava mask on the floor of the vehicle where Ronan had been sitting, police said.
Police initially said the brick matched the injuries suffered by the victim, but the investigation revealed that the injuries came from being body slammed multiple times onto the ground.
The investigation revealed Ronan and the victim were at the residence visiting mutual friends, before getting into an argument outside the home. Before calling 911, partygoers came upon a scene of Ronan standing over the victim, with blood on his shirt, and the victim severely bleeding from the face and head.
Ronan fled the scene before police arrived and was arrested days later at a female friend’s apartment in Lansdale.
Ronan has been incarcerated since Nov. 22, 2024 on $500,077 cash bail, which includes a probation detainer. He is represented by court-appointed private King of Prussia defense attorney Gregory Dipippo, according to court documents. Ronan's previous attorney, Nicholas Beeson, of West Chester, withdrew as
According to The Mercury, Assistant District Attorney Samantha L.R. Cauffman vowed to seek a lengthy prison term against Ronan. Per the report, during the guilty plea hearing, Ronan “had to admit to a certain set of facts, which were read in court, to support the plea.”
Per the report, Ronan admitted to body slamming the victim against the ground, face first, numerous times, fracturing the man’s skull, ribs, and face and causing a brain injury and tooth loss.
First responders believed the victim was suffering from an overdose, and gave him Narcan, before transporting him to St. Luke’s Grand View Hospital, per the report. He was treated for missing teeth, numerous broken facial bones, a broken scapula, and brain bleeds.
Police said the victim was unresponsive and was unable to speak and answer questions. According to the report, a trauma surgeon told police it would be a few days until medical officials would know if Miller would survive the injuries.
Court documents alleged Ronan has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2014 that included arrests for theft, drug possession, simple assault and strangulation and DUI for which he spent brief stints in jail.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
