Four area residents will stand trial on conspiracy charges related to the alleged retaliatory shooting in 1500 block of Randall Circle in Loyalsock Township that occurred just before 10 p.m. on March 3, 2024, one day after the shooting death of 15-year-old Ahmeen Palmer in the parking lot of TGI Fridays in Loyalsock Township, District Judge Gary Whiteman ruled Friday afternoon, following a joint preliminary hearing.

A juvenile that was in the home at the time of the shooting was unharmed, court documents said.

In late July and early August of this year, police apprehended Damier Antoine Sams-Glover, 21, Kharu Michael Rorie, 16, Jaysin Roselle Applewhite, 18 and Tykir Jihad Smith, 17, and charged the four men with conspiracy charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, discharge of a firearm into an occupied structure and criminal mischief.

Sams-Glover faces an additional charge of corruption of minors. The juveniles in the case are being tried as adults.

An Uber driver testified at the hearing that she had accepted a ride request from someone using the name of “Joey” in the 300 block of Center Street just before 9:30 p.m. with a destination of Randall Circle.

Upon arriving at Center Street, five or six males wearing all black clothing, hoods and surgical-style masks entered the Uber, she said.

Immediately made apprehensive by their attire, the driver attempted to make small talk with the men, learning that she and one of them had a mutual acquaintance that he asked her to tell “Jason said ‘hey,'” the driver testified.

Unnerved by the experience, the driver sent a message to other Uber drivers via the Marco Polo app warning them to avoid the area because she believed something bad was about to happen, but did not alert police, she said.

State police Corporal Mitchell McMunn testified that he and a partner were stationed in the area due to concerns of tampering with a home connected to the TGI Fridays shooting prior to the execution of search warrants at the property.

At 9:48 p.m., McMunn’s partner radioed him that five or six individuals dressed all in black were moving through the complex. Shortly after being spotted by McMunn, four to five muzzle flashes were observed, at which point he and his partner attempted to pursue the persons that were observed, though they were unsuccessful in tracking them down.

Authorities contacted Juvenile Probation Officer Matt Stanzione and inquired as to whether any of those under his watch had recently had any suspicious activity show up on their GPS monitors

Stanzione identified Smith’s device as having registered several tamper notifications in the 300 block of Center Street, the last coming in at 7:40 p.m. The monitor would later register as having no option from 9:43 p.m. to 3:10 a.m. the next day.

Such a reading typically means the monitor has been removed from the individual wearing it, Stanzione testified.

Questioned on his whereabouts on the night of the shooting, Smith told investigators he had spent the night with Sams-Glover, Rorie and Applewhite along Center Street. Asked if he had any knowledge of Palmer’s killing the previous night, the juvenile stated that he was good friends with Palmer, but had no additional information.

A search warrant served on Uber requesting the rideshare information for the Uber from Center Street to Randall Circle revealed it had been booked through an account connected to both Rorie’s phone number and email, state police Corporal Tyler Morse testified.

Rorie, who also identified Palmer as a “close friend,” told authorities he had booked the Uber for a stranger.

Following the questioning, Rorie asked to use the restroom, where he began throwing up, and the interview was ended, Morse said.

Police later served a search warrant seizing Applewhite’s phone. He was given the opportunity to write down several contacts out of his phone prior to police removing it from his possession, with the first one later determined to be Sams-Glover.

An examination of cellular data would show that Applewhite had made a call to Rorie from the Four Mile Drive area just north of the crime scene, testified state trooper Brian Siebert.

Text messages recovered from Applewhite’s phone also showed his attempt to get a ride from the 1700 block of Four Mile Drive shortly after 11 p.m., but later said he would get a ride from “Kir’s mom,” placing two of the suspects together in close proximity to the crime scene, Siebert said.

Several photos on the phone allegedly displayed individuals dressed in dark clothing wielding firearms near what appeared to be Sams-Glover’s residence created in the early morning hours following the shooting. Based on photos later found on his own phone, one of those pictured appears to be Sams-Glover, though none of those charged in the shooting could be positively identified as those in the photographs.

Informed that he was a suspect and was likely to be arrested for the crime, he stated, “I know.”

A search of Sams-Glover’s phone allegedly revealed several photos of masked and unmasked men posing with various firearms. Though the photos showed a creation date hours after the shooting and none of the firearms shown have been linked to the shooting, authorities acknowledged.

Screenshots were also found on Sams-Glover’s phone depicting a map of the Penn Vale Apartments and a street view of a residence in the 2100 block of Loyalsock Drive. This address matched a Google Maps street view of the alleged victim’s residence, authorities said.

During closings, attorneys for the four defendants, respectively, argued that there was no conclusive evidence linking their clients to the shooting.

Representing Rorie, defense attorney Eric Williams argued that none of the four defendants had been i’d as the shooter or as having done anything at all related to the crime.

“No testimony or evidence was presented tying them back to the crime,” Williams argued.

“There’s no ‘Joey’ in the courtroom today,” he said, referencing the rideshare name the Uber was booked under.

Matthew Deimer, representing Sams-Glover, argued that the inability of authorities to positively identify the suspects was a “glaring issue.”

“Prima facie requires the identification of the person who allegedly committed the crime, not identification of the person charged with committing the crime,” Deimer stressed.

“Not one piece of evidence Ids any of the men seated behind me as having been involved in the shooting,” he said, noting that it is unknown who is even in the photographs.”Being in the same place at the same time does not an agreement make,” said Krista Deats, defense attorney for Applewhite, again stressing a lack of substantial evidence in the case.

“Individuals cannot be arrested and charged based on assumptions. If they could, every courtroom, every jail across the country would be full,” she said.

Andrea Pulizzi, defense counsel for Smith, argued that the testimony presented was “less than prima facie,” arguing that there were no phone dumps, pings or photos placing the defendants at the scene of the crime.

“I do not deny this case is made up of circumstantial evidence,” Deputy Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Yates told the court.

Reviewing the evidence against each suspect, Yates stressed that the murder of Palmer served as the motive behind the shooting, and that Smith had placed each of them together the night of the shooting, while also noting the dead time of his ankle monitor and the fact that Applewhite said “Kir’s” mom would be picking them up not far from the crime scene.

She then circled back to the use of an account linked to Rorie for the ordering of the Uber from Center Street to Randall Circle, as well as the man in the Uber identifying himself as Jason, as linking Applewhite to the crime.

Additionally, Applewhite had related to his uncle that he was unable to get an Uber from the area, as a shooting had just occurred, something Yates challenged Applewhite’s knowledge of so shortly after the fact, had he not been involved.

Tying it all together, Yates stressed that all four defendants were together at Sams-Glover’s residence, and reiterating that he had screenshots of a map of Penn Vale, as well a photo of the backdoor of the targeted apartment.

“I’m bound to look at all evidence presented here in the light most favorable to the commonwealth, but there are matters that give me pause,” Whiteman said.

“But there are not enough holes to make me believe the case is without merit,” he said, ruling to bound over all charges against all four defendants for trial.