The Lead Story: Three Wawa Defendants Plead Guilty, Day Before Trial

The Wawa shooting case Monroe County has followed for nearly two years is over, and it ended without a jury. Andrew Quattrochi, 26, of Bushkill, pleaded guilty July 20 to homicide, aggravated assault, and discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure in the November 2024 shooting death of 17-year-old Garrett Gearhart, a Stroudsburg High School senior, inside the Wawa on West Main Street in Stroudsburg. His brother, Christopher Quattrochi, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit riot. Their father, Joseph Quattrochi, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and hindering apprehension.

The pleas came one day before jury selection was set to begin. That timing closes out a legal question this newsletter walked through in detail last month: whether Andrew Quattrochi's defense would get to argue Pennsylvania's “stand your ground” law in front of a jury. Prosecutors have said Gearhart was shot in the back while already on the ground, a detail that cuts hard against any self-defense claim. With a guilty plea, no jury will ever weigh in on it.

Sentencing dates have not yet been announced. We will follow up once they are set.