On the morning of Christmas Eve in 2016, a beloved 81-year-old female shopkeeper, Marie Buck, was tragically killed inside her South Philadelphia grocery store. For over 43 years, she had been a cornerstone of her community, running Marie's Grocery on South 6th and Titan Streets. That morning, just before 9 a.m., a man entered the store and shot the defenseless grandmother 11 times as she stood behind the counter.
The attacker then fled the scene without taking anything.
The investigation quickly revealed the incident was not a random act of violence. Homicide detectives determined the suspect was targeting Buck's grandson, who was supposed to be working at the store that morning. The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Maurice Green, was allegedly furious with the grandson, believing he had stolen a piece of jewelry valued between $5,000 and $10,000. When Green arrived at the grocery store and found Marie Buck instead of her grandson, he proceeded to open fire on her. Police utilized surveillance video that captured Green parking his car, walking toward the store just before the murder, and fleeing moments after.
Maurice Green was arrested on the evening of December 28, 2016. His legal journey was lengthy and complex. His first trial ended with a hung jury. However, in a subsequent retrial in December 2019, a jury convicted Green of first-degree murder. He received a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. This conviction, however, was later overturned by an appeals court in 2021. Finally, in November 2023, Green pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Expressing remorse for his actions, he was sentenced to a term of 24 to 40 years in state prison for the murder of a woman who was just one month away from her retirement.
