Philadelphia man sentenced to prison for shooting man in testicles during custody exchange in Lower Merion

NORRISTOWN — A Philadelphia man will spend several years behind bars regretting his decision to bring a gun to a custody exchange in a Lower Merion parking lot and shoot an unarmed man five times, leaving him with serious injuries, including the loss of his testicles.

“Bringing a gun to a child exchange is not an accident. This is an intentional act,” Montgomery County Judge Thomas M. DelRicci told Parnell Christopher Glover as he sentenced him to 8 to 18 years in prison in connection with the 8 a.m. June 18, 2023, shooting that occurred during an argument in the parking lot of the former Lord & Taylor store in the 100 block of East City Avenue in Lower Merion.

“Even if the defendant felt threatened, five shots tell me it was not an accident. The trigger had to be pulled (multiple times),” DelRicci said, adding that Glover had options during the argument and could have backed away. “Run away if you are threatened. Do not pull a gun if your child is there.”

According to witnesses, the shooting occurred during an agreed-upon custody exchange in the parking lot where Glover and his ex-girlfriend were meeting so he could take custody of his son for Father's Day. The victim, who was dating Glover's ex-girlfriend, was also in the woman's vehicle.

Parnell Glover is escorted by a deputy sheriff into a Montgomery County courtroom for his sentencing. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. / MediaNews Group)

At a trial in April, a jury found Glover, 37, of East Cliveden Street, guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, reckless endangerment, simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child, based on injuries to the victim and Glover's 5-year-old son, who suffered a gunshot wound to the foot when a ricochet bullet accidentally struck him during the shooting.

However, the jury acquitted Glover of the most serious charge, attempted murder, and agreed with defense attorneys Eric Scott Donato and Prince Yakubu that Glover did not have the specific intention of killing the other man.

Glover, who claimed in court that he felt threatened and acted in self-defense during the altercation, did not react to the judge's ruling. Before learning his fate, Glover apologized for his behavior and added that he regretted it.

“I apologize for putting your life in serious danger,” Glover told the victim, adding that he loves and misses his son and that he also feels remorse for the physical and emotional harm he caused his son.

The victim, who underwent numerous surgeries for gunshot wounds, including to his back, scrotum and intestines, including the removal of his testicles, told the judge his life was forever changed.

“When I think about the limitations I have now, I realize that I am condemned for life to constantly maintain my body,” the victim said, referring to the daily testosterone treatments he now receives. “I am battling demons that are constantly attacking my masculinity because a crucial part of my system for producing children has been taken away from me. I dreamed of having three or four children of my own and now that dream no longer fits into my reality.”

Glover's ex-girlfriend asked how he could put his son in danger when he cared so much about him.

“How could you cause him so much pain? How could you be so cowardly?” the woman asked Glover in court. “It's been over a year since this incident and emotionally we are all devastated.”

The judge said Glover had two sides.

On one hand, Glover was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a promising career in corporate finance, had no criminal record, and was a loving father who shared custody with the child's mother. On the other hand, Glover was so worried about being replaced in his son's life by another man that he recklessly took a gun to a custody exchange.

Ironically, because of his actions and his prison sentence, Glover will have no role in raising his son for years to come.

Arguments of the prosecution and defense

During the trial, Assistant District Attorney Tanner Christian Beck and co-prosecutor Bradley Walter Deckel argued that Glover had a specific intent to kill when he fired the shots, that he had no reasonable cause to use deadly force during a fight, and that he had a duty to retreat from the incident but failed to do so.

Beck and Deckel argued that Glover was upset that the victim had a relationship with his ex-girlfriend and became a father figure to his son.

Prosecutors presented jurors with numerous text messages between Glover and the victim, exchanged over several months, as evidence of growing animosity between the men. During some of those messages, Glover criticized the victim for performing fatherly duties such as bathing his son, and the victim threatened to beat up Glover, according to testimony.

Beck said Glover escalated the argument, which could have turned into a fight, by bringing a gun into play during the custody exchange.

“Custody exchanges are supposed to be safe and peaceful. This defendant violated that. He chose to pull his gun and pull the trigger over and over and over and over again,” said Beck, who argued for a 20- to 40-year prison sentence for Glover. “There were multiple victims.”

Deckel argued that the victim's life was changed forever.

“He wanted more children. He can no longer start the family he wanted because the defendant tried to hurt him. The damage to the victim is immense and that is why he was deprived of the family he always imagined,” said Deckel.

Parnell Glover is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom to begin his prison sentence for the shooting death of a man in Lower Merion. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. / MediaNews Group)

Beck suspected that Glover stopped shooting the victim because he realized that his little boy had also been hit by a bullet, so he went into “dad mode” and rushed to his son's aid.

During the trial, Donato argued that Glover acted in self-defense when the victim attacked him; that his fear was real, but that he had no intention of killing anyone.

Citing Glover's testimony, Donato argued that the victim initiated the altercation with the first push and punch. Donato pointed to Glover's remorse, his lack of a criminal record, and the strong support of his family and asked the judge not to send Glover to prison.

“There is no reason to believe he will do something like this again. There is no reason to believe he will ever touch a gun again,” Donato argued to the judge. “What Mr. Glover did does not reflect how he has lived his entire life.”

Relatives and friends of Glover said they were shocked to learn of his behavior and asked for leniency on his behalf. They described him as a “God-fearing young man and loving father” and a man who would never intentionally harm another human being.

The investigations and witness statements in court

The investigation began shortly after 8 a.m. on June 18, when Lower Merion police responded to a reported incident in the East City Avenue parking lot.

When officers arrived, they found the victim lying on Belmont Avenue in front of his girlfriend's vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. The victim was accompanied by his girlfriend and their six-month-old daughter, who was in her car seat in the vehicle. According to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Detective David Herbst, the victim's girlfriend identified Glover, the father of her five-year-old son, as the shooter.

Police found Glover standing next to his vehicle in the nearby parking lot of the former Lord & Taylor store and discovered the 5-year-old boy in the front seat of Glover's vehicle with a gunshot wound to his left foot. Glover cooperated and led police to the back seat, where they found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

Investigators found five 9 mm cartridge cases in the parking lot.

The victim testified that as Glover attempted to remove the 5-year-old boy from a car seat, Glover stood directly behind him and repeatedly told Glover to back away. The victim testified that he pushed Glover away and that during the exchange, Glover pointed to his hip where he was carrying a firearm.

The victim claimed Glover punched him in the face and he punched him back. According to the victim's statement, Glover then pulled out his gun and fired several shots at the victim, hitting him at least four times. The victim got back into the vehicle with his girlfriend and her young daughter, and the girlfriend drove toward Belmont Avenue to escape and called 911, according to the statement.

Parnell Glover is escorted out of a Montgomery County courtroom by a deputy sheriff during a break in his attempted murder trial on April 2, 2024. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. / MediaNews Group)

But when Glover testified in his defense that the victim had pushed him twice and hit him repeatedly, all for no reason.

“He comes at me and I try to block the blows. I didn't know if the guy had a gun, but I thought it was possible,” Glover testified, but acknowledged that he never saw the victim with a gun. “He comes right at me and starts hitting me. I just wanted to get the guy away from me.”

Glover admitted to grabbing his gun and, in his opinion, firing three shots.

“It all happened so fast. I wasn't trying to kill the guy,” Glover told the jury.

Glover said he then realized his son was injured and he came to his aid and called 911.

Witness statements indicated that Glover cried after being arrested by police and expressed concern for the well-being of his son and the victim.

“I couldn’t believe this happened,” Glover testified.

Originally published: August 14, 2024, 1:42 p.m.