Morales Takes the Stand, Co-Defendant Flips

The man accused of killing Henry Koroma Jr. at a Middle Smithfield Township bar told the jury his side of the story this week. The next day, the man who had been on trial beside him testified for the prosecution.

Matthew Morales, 33, of Tobyhanna Township, is charged with criminal homicide and two felony firearms counts in the May 24, 2024, shooting death of Koroma at My Place Bar & Grill on Milford Road. His attorney, Alex Ward, says he acted in self-defense.

His Side. Testifying Monday (Sept. 28), the fifth day of the trial, Morales told jurors he joined a street gang called the Bloods at 16 or 17 and pulled away from it after a hard stretch in federal prison, the Pocono Record reports. He said he and Koroma had been friends since they were young, until about two weeks before the shooting, and that some of his texts were his way of telling Koroma he wanted out of the gang.

That night, he said, six or seven people crowded into the bar's outdoor smoking area, known as the "chicken coop," and he believed he had been set up. He testified that Koroma threw a punch and told him he was surrounded, and that he fired only once because after that Koroma was no longer a threat. Then he ran: to Allentown, ditching the gun on the way, then took an Uber to New York City to say goodbye to his son and a bus to Utah, where he worked off the books until he was shot at a nightclub there.

The DA Pushes Back. District Attorney Michael Mancuso got Morales to agree that Koroma had no weapon in his hand when he was shot, and that he never saw anyone pull one. Mancuso also showed jurors a form Morales signed waiving protective custody at the Northampton County jail, pressing him on whether he had really left the gang. Morales said he had.

The Flip. On Tuesday (Sept. 29), co-defendant Raymond Batiste, 40, of Allentown, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obstruction charge and was sentenced to one year of probation by President Judge Jonathan Mark. He had been on trial on two felony counts of hindering apprehension. The same day, he took the stand as a rebuttal witness for the prosecution.

Batiste testified that he did not hear anyone other than Koroma threaten Morales, that Koroma told Morales he was not going to shoot him, and that after the shooting Morales told him his life was over. Batiste said he told Morales to turn himself in. Morales's attorney, Alex Ward, countered that Batiste took a deal to get probation. Asked what prosecutors wanted in return, Batiste said: the truth. Batiste's own attorney, Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, told the Record that Morales's own testimony influenced the decision to plead.

No verdict had been reported as of Wednesday evening. Morales is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We will have the verdict when it lands.