DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – A suburban Philadelphia man has been acquitted of murdering a teenager in a road-rage case 3 1/2 years ago.
Prosecutors said 23-year-old Kendell Cottrell of Bristol Township was in a car involved in a fender-bender in April 2006 and fired into the other vehicle, hitting 18-year-old honor student Ahman Fralin of Bristol. He died later that year.
Jurors deliberated for more than five hours before acquitting Cottrell of first- and third-degree murder and reckless endangerment.
During the weeklong trial, nearly every prosecution witnesses refused to answer questions or denied remembering what they had told a grand jury. Prosecutors accused Cottrell and others of threatening the witnesses, most of whom were serving jail terms in unrelated cases. His attorney called the witnesses "unreliable," and pointed to holes in their stories.
Cottrell is currently serving a three- to eight-year prison term on drug trafficking and weapons convictions.
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