Thanksgiving '21 Fatal Montco Shooting Leads To Guilty Pleas

NORRISTOWN, PA — Two men have pleaded guilty in connection with a Thanksgiving Day 2021 shootout that left a man dead after a bullet entered the victim's home and struck him in the chest as he was eating a holiday dinner with his family.

Kevon Clarke, 20, of Norristown, and Savian Dashawn Creary, 20, of Philadelphia, admitted they engaged in reckless shooting on Nov. 25, 2021, on the streets of Norristown, an act that claimed the life of Edilberto Migues Pelaez Moctezuma.

Related: Norristown Teen Captured In Fatal Thanksgiving Shooting

One of those shots ended up breaching the home of Pelaez Moctezuma, killing the man as he sat and ate Thanksgiving dinner with family members.

Authorities said that the shooting was connected to a dispute at a dinner party at a home on the 100 block of Haws Avenue earlier that day, where Clarke and his girlfriend, Jacqueline Brown, were ultimately asked to leave.

Prosecutors said that others at the party later accused Clarke and Brown of stealing alcohol as they left the dinner party, and that Brown's cousin subsequently texted Brown to ask for the return of the alcohol.

Arrangements for a meetup were made, and the cousin made her way over to Clarke's home on Basin Street, at which time the cousin said she saw Clarke emerge from the home with a gun, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office.

The cousin said she then heard multiple gunshots as she drove away and received a phone call from Clarke who accused the woman of setting him up, stating, "you could have got me (expletive) killed, according to prosecutors.

Detectives discovered that seven projectiles had been shot from the area of Clarke's residence and an analysis showed that one of those bullets came through the window of Pelaez Moctezuma's home, striking the man in the chest and ultimately killing him.

Creary was reportedly caught on surveillance video where he was seen running away from the shooting location, according to the DA's Office.

"Mr. Pelaez Moctezuma was murdered while eating Thanksgiving dinner inside his home, and to be clear, he and his family were not involved in the dispute between Clarke and others," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a prior statement.

Court records show that Clarke and his codefendant were scheduled to go on trial in Norristown beginning Tuesday, but the proceedings were cancelled after Clarke and Creary entered guilty pleas to charges of third-degree murder and other counts.

Clarke pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and recklessly endangering another person, while Creary pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Court records show that on Nov. 28, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge William R. Carpenter sentenced Clarke to 20 to 40 years in prison on the third-degree murder charge and 1 to 2 years for the count of recklessly endangering another person.

Creary was sentenced to 25 to 50 years on both counts against him.

Both men were originally charged with first-degree murder, which would have carried a sentence of life imprisonment.

Carpenter ordered both men to have no contact with the victim's family.

Pelaez Moctezuma was pronounced dead on Nov. 26, the day after the shooting, following an autopsy by Forensic Pathologist Hannah Kastenbaum of the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office.

The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the torso and the manner of death was determined to be homicide.