Montco woman who pleaded guilty to setting ex-boyfriend up for deadly robbery sentenced to 6-15 years in prison

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Plymouth Meeting woman who admitted to her role in the robbery and murder of her ex-boyfriend will spend up to 15 years behind bars for it.

Katherine Emel, 31, is sentenced to six to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy charges. As part of her deal, she testified against three men accused of robbing and killing 35-year-old William Carter in Norristown on Jan. 20.

“It assisted in three guilty verdicts for three individuals that were directly responsible for William Carter's death,” said prosecutor Megan Carney of Emel’s cooperation. “It doesn't negate that she played a role in this.”

Emel testified she put a tracking device in Carter’s car after he won several thousand dollars gambling. At the time, the two were still living together, though she said he had stopped paying his share of rent and bills. Emel then shared Carter’s location with Daquan Allen, paying him $700 to rob Carter. Allen and Jerry Butler were found guilty of second-degree murder. Another man, Damon Brantley, was convicted of first-degree murder for pulling the trigger.

“Unfortunately, she had a drug problem that made her judgment not the best,” said Emel’s attorney, John McCaul, “but at the end of the day, she has done everything that she can to make amends for what happened.”

Carter’s family lashed out at Emel, calling her “nasty” and “evil,” saying she got off easy with the sentence. While Carney said she understood the emotion, she acknowledged Emel’s cooperation helped ensure convictions against the men directly responsible for Carter’s death.

“They're not going to broadcast their plans. They're not going to broadcast what exactly happened. You need to talk to the people that lived it,” she said.

“Sometimes you do need to work with some of the … other players to get these major players, and that's unfortunately, fortunately, the nature of criminal prosecution at times.”

Allen and Butler were sentenced to life in prison. Brantley was 17 at the time of the shooting. He'll be sentenced next month and faces 35 years to life.