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Woman gets 20 to 40 years for 2020 Middletown killing

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The woman who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the killing of her boyfriend, which was carried out by her son, has been sentenced to 20-40 years in state prison, according to a statement the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office put out Monday on its CRIMEWATCH page.

Joyce Brown-Rodriguez, 56, of Philadelphia, conspired with her son Kahlill Saleem Brown to murder Christopher M. Wilson in Middletown in December 2020.

Wilson had reportedly ended the relationship with Brown-Rodriguez.

The killing took place while Wilson was waiting to start his shift at Kuusakoski Inc., a recycling facility located at 900 Wheeler Way.

Last month, Brown-Rodriguez testified against her son, saying she drove him to the business where he shot Wilson in the parking lot and then back to Philadelphia afterward.

She testified that during the ride back she asked him “What the (expletive) did you just do? I thought you were going to talk to him.”

According to the DAs office, she said he responded, “I didn’t feel like talking.”

Brown was convicted by a Bucks County jury of first-degree murder and related charges in July. His sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Five of Wilson’s daughters gave emotional impact statements before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley, describing their father as a hard-working, devoted, and loving man whose loss has left an emptiness in their lives.

“The day I got that phone call is a day I will never forget,” one of the daughters testified. “Hearing those words crushed me.”

The daughters said they had considered Brown-Rodriguez part of the family.

Judge Finley said the “callous murder” has impacted so many lives, including Wilson’s family and his co-workers who witnessed the killing.

This investigation was conducted by detectives with the Middletown Township Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the Bucks County 20th Investigating Grand Jury. District Attorney Alan J. Garabedian prosecuted the case.


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