Bernadette Gaudio told the courtroom on Tuesday that as soon as she was awoken by a gun blast during a home invasion on Dec. 8, 2024, she knew right away that she was paralyzed.
During the second day of trial for Kelvin Roberts, 42 of Norristown and Charles Fulforth, 41, of Jenkintown, who are charged with shooting Gaudio and killing her 25-year-old son, Andrew, the 61-year-old mother said she heard her son dying as she called 9-1-1 for help.
It’s a case that shocked the Lower Merion community where the incident occurred after, police allege, two men stormed into a home, looking for firearms, after mistaking the property for a different home in Bucks County.
On Tuesday, Gaudio, who was once an avid hiker, had to have someone help wipe away her tears as she recalled her son’s final moments on the night of Dec. 8, 2024.
The day before, she said, she celebrated her oldest son’s birthday before cleaning up, putting away dishes and heading to bed.
She said, speaking softly, that she’d never met Fulforth or Roberts before she was awoken by gunfire that evening.
According to police, both men had decided to break into the home after a third man, Jeremy Fuentes, who has also been charged with murder and other charges related to that same incident, allegedly tipped them off about a home with a similar address in Bucks County.
Prosecutors say that two days before the deadly home invasion, employees at Junkluggers — where all three worked — conducted an estimate for a junk removal job at a residence in Bucks County where the homeowners had several firearms.
The men now on trial, prosecutors believe, wanted those guns and decided to plan a home invasion in order to get their hands on them.
But, the men, prosecutors claim, put the wrong address in their GPS and, instead, ended up at the Gaudio home.
On Tuesday, prosecutors told the court that a jewelry box that belonged to Gaudio was found at Fulforth’s home — as was a firearm that police believe was used in the deadly shooting.
And, a vehicle stolen that evening from the Gaudios’ home was recovered a block away from Fulforth’s property, as well, prosecutors claimed.
On Tuesday morning, defense attorneys for Roberts and Fulforth worked to paint a picture that showed that no one was there to witness who fired the shots on the night the Gaudios were attacked.
The trial is ongoing.
The trial for Fuentes, the third suspect charged in the incident, is scheduled for September.