On an early evening in October 2016, the life of Kevin Paul Jalbert, a 36-year-old male of mixed ethnicity, was brought to a tragic and violent end on a residential street in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. Jalbert, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who was receiving treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the local Veterans Affairs Medical Center, had been at a nearby bar before the fatal encounter.
On October 3, 2016, he came across a group of teenagers playing in the street and asked them to go home. This seemingly simple request initiated a chain of events that would culminate in his death.
The initial interaction with the youths led to a more heated exchange with a group of young men, among them a 22-year-old named Sheron Jalen Purnell, known as 'Ryda.' Purnell was a member of a local street gang called the 'Belmont Boys.' The verbal argument between Jalbert and Purnell escalated, and Purnell briefly left the scene only to return with a handgun. The confrontation turned physical, and despite Jalbert being unarmed, Purnell fired multiple shots. Eyewitnesses reported that Jalbert was backing away with his hands raised in a sign of submission when he was shot six times in the torso. He was rushed to Paoli Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation that followed the shooting, which took place in front of numerous adults and children, led police to identify Sheron Purnell as the primary suspect. An arrest warrant was issued on October 31, and Purnell was taken into custody on November 2, 2016. He faced charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and various weapons offenses.
During the trial in Chester County, the court heard testimony about the events that transpired. Kevin Paul Jalbert was remembered as a generous and kind-hearted person. Ultimately, the jury found Sheron Jalen Purnell guilty of third-degree murder. For his role in the senseless killing, he was sentenced to serve 20.5 to 47 years in state prison, bringing a close to the legal chapter of a tragedy that deeply affected a family and a community.
