A man has pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the shooting death of a south Philadelphia corner store owner on Christmas Eve nearly seven years ago. Maurice Green, 38, was sentenced to serve from 24 to 40 years in state prison last week on the murder charge and a related gun offense in the 2016 murder of 81-year-old Marie Buck.
The incident occurred when a group of teens robbed a Philadelphia pizza shop of thousands of dollars and then abducted a man to force him to give up his bank information. Green intended to kill another person he blamed for the theft of his $5,500 gold chain, but that person wasn’t in the store that morning.
“To shoot an unarmed, helpless 81-year-old woman … over a fight over a necklace is incomprehensible,” said Common Pleas Judge Glenn Bronson.
Prosecutor Joanne Pescatore stated that Green expressed remorse and apologized to the family in court, saying he couldn’t bear to look Buck’s family in the eye and would do anything to atone. Green recalled growing up down the street from Marie’s Grocery and buying sandwiches there.
A jury convicted Green of first-degree murder in a 2019 retrial after his first trial ended in a hung jury. He was initially sentenced to life without parole, but an appeals court overturned the verdict in 2021, citing the trial judge’s error in allowing evidence of a previous crime for which the defendant was never arrested or convicted.
The case highlights the impact of drugs in the city, according to Pescatore, and the family just wants closure. Buck’s daughter, Marie, expressed her grief and stated, “I miss her more than life itself.”
The sentencing of Green brings some form of justice for the senseless murder of Marie Buck, who dedicated over 40 years to running the store before her retirement. The Philadelphia community mourns the loss of a beloved member and hopes for healing in the aftermath of this tragic event.
