Ronald Anderson, a 30-year-old African American male from Chester, Pennsylvania, was shot and killed on April 11, 2002, in Chester. The case centered on Shawn McKinney, a Chester drug dealer who was later accused of gunning Anderson down near a city dumpster. Anderson was described in court as McKinney's friend, and prosecutors said the killing grew out of a drug-related dispute rather than a random act of violence.
Authorities alleged that McKinney, then 24 and from the 600 block of
West Fifth Street in Chester, shot Anderson after Anderson tried to take drugs and failed to pay for them. The account presented at trial portrayed the men as connected through the drug trade, with the fatal encounter turning deadly after tension over drugs and money. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Rongaus said the testimony indicated McKinney had been dealing drugs and that Anderson was getting drugs from him without paying.
McKinney was tried before Delaware County Judge George Koudelis in a non-jury trial. In May 2004, Judge Koudelis convicted McKinney of first-degree murder in Anderson's death. Prosecutors said key evidence came from statements McKinney made to his girlfriend and to Detective John Easton of the county Criminal Investigation Division.
On June 29, 2004, McKinney was sentenced at the Media Courthouse to a mandatory life sentence for Anderson's murder. Judge Koudelis also imposed an additional 23 months in jail on related charges. McKinney maintained his innocence at sentencing, telling the judge he did not believe the verdict was fair. Relatives outside the courtroom also objected, claiming that a new eyewitness had been found after the trial and that the court did not want to hear anything about it.
Prosecutors responded that the issue involving the new witness and that person's credibility had already been raised during the appeal process. Rongaus said the judge determined that any questions about the witness were matters for post-conviction proceedings. Despite McKinney's objections and his family's complaints, the conviction stood, and he received life in prison for the murder of Ronald Anderson.
