Davon Tamel Grissom is led from the Lycoming County Courthouse after being ordered to stand trial for his alleged role in the December 2023 shooting death of Jermaine Mullen. MATTHEW COURTER/Sun-Gazette

Just shy of four months after Benjamin Villanueva III was found guilty for the 2023 shooting death of 39-year-old Jermaine Derick Mullen, a second man has been ordered to stand trial for the killing.

Davon Tamel Grissom, 38, will face charges of second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and kidnapping, Lycoming County District Judge Christian Frey ruled, following a preliminary hearing Thursday morning.

Charges of unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and criminal use of a communication facility were dismissed as the two year statute of limitations had passed, and a charge of illegal possession of a firearm was dismissed as no evidence was presented.

In January 2026, Villanueva was found guilty of criminal homicide, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and carrying a firearm without a license for carrying out the murder of Mullen in the 1000 block of Memorial Avenue on the morning of Dec. 9, 2023.

The charges against Grissom were filed roughly a month after Villanueva’s conviction.

Much of the focus of the hearing was on establishing that Villanueva and Mullen had spent a substantial amount of time together in the hours leading up to the murder, with First Assistant District Attorney Martin Wade displaying several surveillance videos from local businesses showing the two together over a number of hours.

A witness testified that he had been with both Mullen and Grissom at a Duboistown establishment, where Mullen displayed a large amount of money.

The witness then traveled with Mullen to downtown Williamsport, where the two parted ways, with Grissom later giving him a ride to an establishment along Washington Boulevard.

He added that this was the first time he had seen the two together.

Several text and Snapchat messages between Grissom and Villanueva recovered during a forensic extraction of the latter’s phone were read aloud by city Agent Brittany Alexander.

Within those text messages, Grissom and Villanueva allegedly conspire to carry out the crime.

“We bookin’ him when we slide up,” one of the text exchanges read, with Grissom later instructing Villanueva to have the doors of the vehicle unlocked and to take him to a dark area of town, according to court testimony.

A text audio file saved to draft on Villanueva’s phone at 2:32 a.m. on Dec. 9 was also extracted and played during the hearing.

In the 40-second clip, someone can be heard saying “down the alley,” followed by “oh ‘expletive.'”

Mullen’s mother testified that she recognized the voice to be that of her son.

Defense attorney Edward Rymza argued that although the burden of a prima facie case required at the preliminary hearing stage is low, it nevertheless “plays a critical role at this juncture.”

The state’s case is thin to be generous,” he said, arguing that it lacked by “quality and quantity of evidence.”

“Mere presence is not evidence. Association is not evidence,” the defense attorney said, describing Wade’s presentation as “rank conjecture.”

“There has been no testimony as to my client’s involvement, let alone a conspiracy,” Rymza said.

He further stressed that all the evidence presented depicts Mullen socializing and driving around with Villanueva.

“The only thing the state has is hearsay, which by itself, is insufficient to hold the case.

Wade, however, leaned on the strength of the text exchanges presented.

“It is plain to see the two were working together in order to lure the victim to a darkened area,” Wade said.

“You have to draw the inference that it was for the purpose of a robbery, but what else would it be for,” he told Frey.

Turning to the draft audio, the prosecutor stressed his belief that it contained the sound of a firearm being pulled on Mullen and a round being racked in the chamber.

Speaking to the kidnapping and robbery offenses, Wade stressed the Commonwealth’s belief that Mullen was restrained using a shoelace pulled from one of his own shoes, and that the money he was seen with just hours before the murder was never recovered.

Grissom remains incarcerated at the Lycoming County Prison as he awaits trial.