NORRISTOWN — It was “a senseless act of violence” fueled, in part, by social media and text messaging between two men involved in a dispute that turned deadly.
Andre “Dre” Dula, 23, of the first block of North Hills Avenue, Abington, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court on Monday to a felony charge of third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, in connection with the 9:33 p.m. July 17, 2012, shooting death of 27-year-old William Benjamin Butler during a confrontation near the North Hills Train Station.
Dula faces a possible minimum sentence ranging from 6 ˝ to nine years behind bars and up to a maximum of 18 years in prison on the charge when he’s sentenced later this year by Judge Garrett D. Page.
Dula and Butler, authorities alleged, had been arguing for two days prior to the shooting over “trash talking,” according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Michael Begley and Abington Detective Robert Wilsbach.
“It is your classic senseless act of violence, senseless murder. This was a squabble over incidental things. It was a family squabble over social media, text messaging, that just escalated and no one was able to put the brakes on it,” alleged Deputy District Attorney Christopher Maloney, who indicated he will argue for a sentence of 9-to-18 years in prison against Dula. “The circumstances had been escalating via text messaging, social media.”
“Over the course of the day or two prior to the murder they were text messaging each other extensively. The exchanges were incendiary,” alleged Maloney, claiming the exchanges became more and more aggressive.
Defense lawyer John I. McMahon Jr. called the incident “very tragic.” McMahon claimed Dula and Butler got drawn into a feud between other family members or friends and then argued with one another.
“There was a lot of kind of trash talking back and forth,” McMahon said. “These families of both the decedent, Mr. Butler, and the defendant, Mr. Dula, know each other and live in the same community. The situation, unfortunately, became escalated.”
During Monday’s hearing, the courtroom, heavily guarded by sheriff’s deputies, was packed by the emotional friends and relatives of both men. As Dula left the courtroom in handcuffs, his relatives and friends shouted, “Keep your head up, baby” and “Love you, Dre.”
Authorities, based on witness interviews, alleged in court papers that the ongoing dispute between the men may have concerned Dula’s previous relationship with Butler’s sister.
“It used to be you’d hear rumors on the block about what someone was saying about you or your family. Now, the exchanges are direct, they’re immediate. They happen so quickly that I think, at least in this case, the parties didn’t stop to think, to let cooler heads prevail,” Maloney alleged.
But the exchanges, particularly on the day of the shooting, were happening so frequently that it heightened everyone’s anger and aggression, Maloney alleged.
“You look at the exchange of these text messages and a lot of it is posturing but the posturing gets more and more serious to the extent that both sides now feel as though they have to back up their words and then you have this senseless violence,” Maloney alleged.
“So, I definitely think that social media and also the fact we live in this immediate world now where if you have a thought you can text it to someone and you can’t pull it back, all that played a significant role in what happened here,” Maloney said.
According to authorities, Butler was with several others in two or three cars looking for Dula near his home. When Butler saw Dula, he got out of one of the cars and confronted Dula. Testimony revealed Butler may have thrown a bottle at Dula during the confrontation.
“Although the victim provoked the fight on the evening in question, the fight was over, clearly over, when the defendant drew his handgun. The victim began to flee and rather than let it go, the defendant pursued him before shooting three times, hitting the victim once in the back,” Maloney alleged. “It’s our contention that shows the malice.”
Malice is defined as extreme recklessness or hardness of heart.
“Certainly the facts of the case are difficult. The decedent was shot in the back and there were multiple shots fired at him. On the other hand, there was evidence of serious provocation,” said McMahon, indicating he will seek a minimum sentence of 6 ˝ years in prison for Dula by claiming mitigating factors exist in the case.
“The mitigating factors are well known in this case. Mr. Dula was attacked by the decedent, Benjamin Butler, who threw a bottle at him and also punched him in the head. That provocation resulted in Mr. Dula taking out the loaded weapon he had on him,” McMahon argued.
McMahon said Dula cooperated with authorities and turned himself in the following day when requested and tried to help authorities find the gun that he discarded after the shooting. That gun apparently was not found.
Follow Carl Hessler Jr. on Twitter @MontcoCourtNews.