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NORRISTOWN — “Jealousy and anger” landed a North Wales man behind prison bars after he admitted to shooting his girlfriend and her male friend during a domestic violence incident in Upper Gywnedd Township.
Damian Quantay Thomas, 25, of the 200 block of West Walnut Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 4½ to 9 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to two felony charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury in connection with two separate incidents along Sumneytown Pike in Upper Gwynedd on April 16, 2022.
By pleading guilty, Thomas, who also listed an address in the 800 block of North Wales Road, admitted that he intentionally or recklessly committed the crimes with a .45-caliber Glock handgun under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.
Judge Wendy G. Rothstein, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Thomas to complete five years’ probation consecutive to parole, meaning Thomas will be under court supervision for 14 years.
Assistant District Attorney Gabriella Glenning sought the state prison sentence against Thomas.
“He pled to shooting not only the mother of his children in the leg but also a stranger to him,” Glenning said. “The defendant was angry that the mother of his children was with another guy. He began following them on Sumneytown Pike. The motive behind this that we saw was jealousy and anger.
“This stems from a domestic violence assault and the rage and jealously of this defendant over someone else being with the mother of his children and girlfriend at the time. This is truly one of the scariest forms of domestic violence when you have an individual who has access to a gun and has shown that they are not afraid to use it,” Glenning added. “Nothing about this case warranted anything but state incarceration.”
Defense lawyer Craig Hosay said Thomas is remorseful for his conduct.
“He fully took responsibility for his actions. He is certainly remorseful,” said Hosay, explaining Thomas had no prior criminal record and is the father of three children. “He not only fully accepted responsibility but apologized not only to his girlfriend but to the second victim. He has a great deal of family support. I think he has an excellent chance of being rehabilitated and being a very productive member of society.”
The investigation began April 16, when Upper Gwynedd police were notified that two gunshot victims, a man and a woman, were being treated at Abington Memorial Hospital. The male suffered bullet fragment injuries to his head and the female sustained a gunshot wound to her left thigh, according to the criminal complaint filed by Upper Gwynedd Detective Robert Pro III.
Detectives determined the shootings were tied to a dispute the woman had with Thomas, who is the father of her children.
The male victim told detectives he was operating his 2016 Toyota sedan westbound in the 600 block of Sumneytown Pike with the female victim, who was his friend, in the front passenger seat, and that the woman had been arguing on the cellphone with Thomas.
At about 10:09 a.m., Thomas, operating a Chevrolet SUV, pulled up along the left side of the male victim’s moving vehicle and fired a gunshot, shattering the driver’s side window and the male victim “began to bleed from his head,” Pro alleged. The male victim slowed down and allowed Thomas’ vehicle to pass him and he then performed a U-turn and headed eastbound on Sumneytown Pike.
Prosecutors said fortunately, the B-pillar or support post connecting the vehicle’s roof to its body at the rear of the front door caught most of the bullet and slowed its trajectory.
“And so only fragments of the bullet became lodged in his head and unfortunately those are not going to be able to be surgically removed,” Glenning said.
The female passenger, Thomas’ girlfriend, was not injured at that time, according to court documents. When the male victim came to a stop sign at Swedesford Road he let his female friend out of the vehicle.
“He continued to drive a short distance but was having problems seeing as he was light-headed and blood from his head was dripping into his eyes,” Pro alleged. “He waved down a Lower Gwynedd police vehicle at Township Line Road and DeKalb Pike and told them what had happened.”
Detectives said the woman, after being dropped off, hid behind a tree but Thomas became aware of her location and picked her up a short time later. Two children were in the backseat area of Thomas’ vehicle at the time, according to court papers.
“Thomas began to verbally berate her in the vehicle as he drove around and waved a black handgun around in the passenger compartment,” Pro alleged, adding Thomas demanded to see the contents of the woman’s cellphone and reveal the identity of the male victim.
“(The woman) stated she was scared of Thomas so she refused to cooperate with his demands and she began staring out the window in an attempt to ignore him. She then heard a gunshot from the left of her. She immediately felt pain in her left leg and realized Thomas had shot her,” Pro alleged.
Thomas drove the woman to the Abington hospital emergency room.
Detectives obtained video surveillance footage from cameras along Sumneytown Pike that captured the initial shooting, corroborating the male victim’s version of events.
Other charges of attempted homicide, simple assault and recklessly endangering other persons were dismissed against Thomas as part of the plea agreement.
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