NORRISTOWN — A judge determined a Philadelphia man intended to kill a loss prevention officer at a Five Below store in Cheltenham Township when he attacked the security guard from behind and repeatedly stabbed him with such force that the knife’s blade broke off in the victim’s chest cavity.
Truman Jermaine Parks, 53, of the 7800 block of Fayette Street, showed no visible reaction in Montgomery County Court as Senior Judge Thomas C. Branca convicted him of attempted murder, aggravated and simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possessing an instrument of crime and retail theft in connection with a Dec. 6, 2024, incident at the Five Below store in the Greenleaf Shopping Center in the 2400 block of West Cheltenham Avenue.
Branca, who presided over the nonjury trial, deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigation report about Parks, who potentially faces more than a decade in prison. Parks will remain in the county jail without bail while awaiting sentencing.
The case was not a whodunit, but the issue at trial was whether Parks had a specific intent to kill the victim when he stabbed him four times in the left side of his torso and once in the leg…