NORRISTOWN — The young Lower Merion Township man who rushed to his mother’s aid as two men allegedly invaded their home during a botched burglary suffered five gunshot wounds including a fatal wound to the head, a forensic pathologist told a jury.
Andrew Gaudio, 25, sustained gunshot wounds to the back of the head, left cheek, right chest, neck and right flank, wounds that struck vital areas of his body, Dr. Ian Hood, who performed the autopsy on Gaudio, testified for a Montgomery County jury on Wednesday.
Hood’s testimony appeared to support prosecutors’ contention that Gaudio’s killing was an “execution,” that the young man was shot in the back of the head as he lay face down on the floor of his mother’s bedroom.
Testimony revealed a projectile was recovered from the floorboard under Gaudio’s head.
“That means his head was very close to the floor or on it when the gunshot was fired. He was basically lying down when he was shot. It would almost immediately be fatal,” Hood opined, describing the head wound as being similar to “execution-style.”
Charles Edward Fulforth and Kelvin Roberts Jr., the two men accused of participating in the deadly home invasion, did not react to the disturbing testimony or to the autopsy photographs prosecutors presented to the jury on a large projection screen in the courtroom.
Fulforth, 41, of the 1600 block The Fairway, in the Jenkintown section of Abington Township, and Roberts, 42, of the 7200 block of North 21st Street, Philadelphia, face charges of first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy in connection with their alleged roles in the 2:22 a.m. Dec. 8, 2024, fatal home invasion at Gaudio’s residence in the unit block of Meredith Road in Lower Merion.
Gaudio’s mother, Bernadette, suffered multiple gunshot wounds as she lay in bed, including one to the neck that left her paralyzed. Bernadette Gaudio testified on Tuesday that her son was shot as he rushed from another bedroom to her aid after one of the intruders shot her.
Bernadette Gaudio with her sons, Andrew, on right, and Robert, on left. (Photo courtesy GoFundMe)
As Lower Merion police responded to the home after Bernadette Gaudio called 911, an officer’s dash camera captured footage of a white Hyundai Azera vehicle fleeing the scene of the crime, a vehicle that was eventually linked to the Samson Street residence of Roberts’ girlfriend in Philadelphia.
Aniyah Hammond, repeatedly referring to Roberts as “my boyfriend,” was called as a prosecution witness on Wednesday. During her testimony, when prosecutors showed her a photograph of the white Hyundai vehicle leaving the Meredith Road scene Hammond linked the Azera to Roberts and positively identified the man behind the steering wheel as “my boyfriend.”
Roberts appeared to avoid looking at Hammond as she testified.
Kelvin Roberts Jr. of Philadelphia is escorted by a deputy sheriff to his homicide trial in Montgomery County Court on July 23, 2025. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
During the trial, First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann Jr. and co-prosecutor Brianna Ringwood argued Fulforth and Roberts were “motivated by greed and determined to use violence” while looking to steal guns to support their alleged gun trafficking “side hustle.” Armed with information from a third man, Fulforth and Roberts mistakenly targeted the wrong residence, prosecutors contend.
McCann and Ringwood are seeking first-degree murder convictions, contending Andrew’s killing was deliberate and intentional. First-degree murder is punishable by life imprisonment upon conviction.
A conviction of second-degree murder, a killing that occurs during the course of another felony such as burglary, also carries a mandatory life prison sentence.
Regardless who allegedly fired the fatal shots, Fulforth and Roberts are charged with homicide under accomplice liability theories.
But defense lawyers Francis Genovese, who represents Roberts, and Brooks Thompson, who represents Fulforth, suggested evidence is lacking and that there is reasonable doubt in the case and they urged jurors not to rush to conclusions about their clients.
The trial before Judge Risa Vetri Ferman is expected to wrap up later this week.
Charles Fulforth is escorted to his homicide trial in Montgomery County Court on July 21, 2025. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
A third man charged in connection with the deadly incident, Jeremy Fuentes, who prosecutors alleged provided information that was the impetus for Roberts and Fulforth to carry out the deadly home invasion burglary faces a separate trial in September.
Fuentes, 27, of the 7200 block of North 18th Street, Philadelphia, faces charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit burglary. While Fuentes was not present for the home invasion, he was charged with homicide under accomplice liability theories
Roberts, Fulforth and Fuentes were coworkers at Junkluggers 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 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 court documents.
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 allegedly 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 alleged, was where the intended house was located and Fulforth and Roberts mistakenly went to the Gaudio home on Meredith Road in Lower Merion.
Roberts, Fulforth and Fuentes also face separate 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 activities.
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)
The homicide investigation began when Lower Merion police responded to the Meredith Road home after Bernadette Gaudio managed to dial 911 to report that she and her son were victims of a home invasion and that the attackers were rummaging through the home, according to a criminal complaint filed by county Detective John Wittenberger and Lower Merion Detective James Black.
When police arrived, they found Bernadette Gaudio suffering from several gunshot wounds and she was transported to a local hospital where she underwent surgery. Andrew Gaudio was found deceased from gunshot wounds that he suffered when he attempted to help his mother, detectives said.
Bernadette Gaudio told detectives she was asleep and awakened by a male intruder.
“This male shot her without provocation while she was lying in her bed resulting in her becoming instantly paralyzed. Gaudio stated that her son entered her bedroom to check on her when he was shot and killed. Gaudio stated she heard her son dying on the floor,” Wittenberger and Black alleged.
During her testimony, Gaudio described the man who shot her as “Black.” Roberts is Black. But Genovese argued that during her 911 call Gaudio could not discern for a dispatcher if her attacker was Black, Hispanic or white.
Gaudio told detectives she was shot again after her son was killed in her bedroom. Gaudio believed there were two intruders in the home, one upstairs and one downstairs.
As a result of being paralyzed, Gaudio had to use the Siri voice function on her cellphone to call 911.
Detectives used cellphone data from both Fulforth and Roberts that allegedly showed both of them at the Samson Street residence shortly after midnight on Dec. 8 and that around 12:40 a.m. their phones moved toward Lower Merion, the area of the home invasion.
Both phones were connecting with each other in the minutes following the fatal home invasion, detectives alleged.