NORRISTOWN — Calling it “pure evil” and “one of the worst crimes” she’s ever seen, a judge ensured that three men will spend the rest of their lives in prison for planning or carrying out a home invasion burglary in Lower Merion Township that ended with the homeowner being shot and paralyzed and her son fatally wounded as he rushed to her aid.
“It was targeted. It was planned. It was motivated by greed. This is truly one of the worst crimes this court has ever seen. There is no doubt, in this court’s mind, the act of one is the act of all. They chose to follow a path, together, of evil,” Montgomery County Judge Risa Vetri Ferman said on Thursday as she imposed the sentences for three men in connection with the violent 2:20 a.m. Dec. 8, 2024, home invasion burglary at a residence in the unit block of Meredith Road in Lower Merion.
The homeowner, Bernadette Gaudio, 61, suffered a gunshot wound to the neck that left her paralyzed, and her youngest son, Andrew, 25, was fatally shot during the home invasion.
Charles Edward Fulforth, 41, of the 1600 block The Fairway, in the Jenkintown section of Abington Township, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a consecutive 60 to 120 years in prison on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery or burglary in connection with the incident.
First-degree murder is an intentional killing and carries a mandatory life prison term.
Kelvin Roberts Jr., 42, of the 7200 block of North 21st Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced to life imprisonment and a consecutive term of 55½ to 120 years on identical charges.
Fulforth and Roberts carried out the home invasion during which they targeted the wrong house in Lower Merion while looking to steal guns as part of an alleged gun trafficking scheme.
“Every time you had a choice, you chose a path of pure evil,” Ferman addressed the men, pointing out that when they realized they entered the wrong home they could have chosen to leave without harming the Gaudios. “You could have left. You could have stopped. But you didn’t.”
Kelvin Roberts Jr., of Philadelphia, is escorted to a Montgomery County courtroom for his homicide trial on July 21, 2025. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Jeremy Fuentes, 27, of the 7200 block of North 18th Street, Philadelphia, who provided information that was the impetus for Fulforth and Roberts to carry out the home invasion, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus a consecutive 4 to 20 years in prison on charges of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary.
Second-degree murder is a killing committed during the course of another felony, such as robbery. Prosecutors argued that even though Fuentes did not enter the home, he was responsible for the crime under accomplice liability theories.
Ferman said Fuentes “set in motion the chain of events.”
The sentences imposed consecutively to the life terms essentially make it difficult for a future governor to ever commute the life terms.
Fulforth and Roberts were convicted of the charges by a jury in July and a separate jury convicted Fuentes during a trial earlier this month.
Jeremy Fuentes (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
After the sentencing hearings, Robert Gaudio, the eldest son of Bernadette and brother of Andrew, thanked prosecutors and detectives for their dedication to solving the crime and supporting his family.
“We derive no joy out of these convictions and sentences, but we do feel that justice was served today, just as it had been over the course of the past two trials, and these resounding sentences reflect the gravity of what has befallen our family,” Robert Gaudio said.
“This has been a really difficult journey for me, and now that the trial and the sentencing is over, we can focus on my health and my recovery,” Bernadette Gaudio said.
The Gaudios remembered Andrew as a “compassionate, kind person and a prankster who loved fun.”
First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. and co-prosecutor Brianna Ringwood sought the murder convictions.
“This crime was horrific, just random violence. In terms of the act itself, the violence didn’t even make sense in the context of why they were supposedly there. To shoot a woman and paralyze her as she lay in bed and to execute her son in front of her, it doesn’t get any worse than that,” McCann said.
McCann said the murder of Andrew devastated the Gaudio family.
“But I also think there is a message of resilience here too, how strong this woman is who literally fought for her life the night she was shot and has worked hard every day to get back some measure of independence and how strong this family and their friends are,” McCann said. “So, there is even a little bit of a message of hope in what happened today.”
Bernadette Gaudio with her sons, Andrew, on right, and Robert, on left. (Photo courtesy GoFundMe)
Ringwood said the consecutive sentences recognized several distinct crimes, that they weren’t impulsive acts, and that there were multiple victims.
“It was callous, premeditated. These men violated the sanctity of a home,” Ringwood argued as she sought the consecutive terms.
“Although the sentence will not be able to bring Andrew back and will not heal Bernadette from all of the physical, mental, and emotional suffering she will live with, we hope that with this sentence the family can start moving forward and remembering Andrew for how he lived and not for how he died,” Ringwood added after the hearing.
The hearings were marked by emotional statements from the Gaudios and their friends as they recalled Andrew’s heroic efforts, rushing from his bedroom to come to his mother’s aid after she had been shot in her bedroom.
“Even in his final moments, he was shot multiple times, and his only concern was for me,” Bernadette Gaudio said tearfully. “The emptiness and the hole in my heart is so deep that I fear that I will never recover.”
Robert Gaudio said the family didn’t favor the death penalty for the men who killed his brother.
“It’s because we believe there’s a fate worse than death, and that is to be forgotten. These men, through this conviction, will be forgotten,” Robert Gaudio said.
Jill Weitz, a family friend, read a letter written jointly by six of Andrew’s friends.
“You will be forgotten. History will not remember your existence,” the friends addressed Fulforth, Roberts and Fuentes in the letter, adding Andrew’s memory will be cherished forever. “You are nothing. You took everything. I hope that you never forget the life that you have taken from this world.”
Fulforth, who was represented by defense lawyer Brooks Thompson, and Roberts, who was represented by defense lawyer Francis Genovese, offered no apologies or expressions of remorse when allowed to address the courtroom before the sentences were imposed. Only Fuentes, who was represented by defense lawyer Matthew Quigg, chose to make a statement.
“This is a very tragic thing that happened. I’m deeply moved by it. I’m sorry for your loss, I really am,” Fuentes addressed the Gaudios.
Fuentes, Fulforth and Roberts were coworkers at Junkluggers, a junk removal business, in Upper Moreland Township.
The investigation revealed that on Dec. 6, 2024, Fuentes conducted an estimate for junk removal at a Bucks County residence that had an address similar to the Meredith Road residence in Lower Merion.
During a meeting with the elderly Bucks County homeowner, Fuentes observed a large gun safe, gun boxes, gun parts and ammunition, none of which were part of the estimate to be removed by Junkluggers, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective John Wittenberger and Lower Merion Detective James Black.
But following that estimate, Fuentes called Fulforth and shared with him the information regarding the multiple firearms in that Bucks County home, detectives alleged.
Fuentes and Fulforth, prosecutors claimed, were interested in stealing the firearms in furtherance of their alleged gun trafficking organization that illegally sold factory-made firearms as well as privately made ghost guns, machine gun conversion devices, or “switches,” and silencers using 3D printers.
What got lost in the translation, prosecutors said, was where the intended house was located. On Dec. 8, Fulforth and Roberts mistakenly went to the Gaudio home on Meredith Road in Lower Merion.
During the trial, Genovese and Thompson suggested evidence was lacking to convict Roberts and Fulforth of homicide and that there was reasonable doubt in the case.
Quigg suggested Fuentes had no shared criminal intent to commit a burglary with Fulforth or Roberts. Quigg argued Fulforth was the mastermind of a burglary plan and that he used Fuentes “like a puppet” to obtain information about a residence to target for a burglary.
Multiple gunshots were fired from three different guns during the home invasion, according to testimony. Authorities recovered two guns: a .25-caliber handgun the intruders mistakenly left at the scene and a 9mm 3D-printed ghost gun, which was found in Fulforth’s possession when authorities searched his residence.
Testimony revealed that DNA from Fulforth and Roberts was found on the 3D-printed gun, and the gun was a ballistic match with projectiles recovered from Andrew Gaudio’s body.
Detectives determined Fuentes had given the .25-caliber gun to Fulforth several days before the home invasion. Fuentes’ DNA was found on the .25-caliber handgun, according to testimony.
Prosecutors alleged the tragic murder and attempted murder were all about “greed and putting guns in the hands of criminals.”
Roberts, Fulforth and Fuentes also face a separate trial on charges of corrupt organizations, illegal sale or transfer of firearms and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities in connection with their lead roles in the gun trafficking organization.
It was during the Lower Merion homicide investigation that authorities uncovered the gun trafficking organization.