Morales was convicted of first-degree murder in a Poconos bar shooting.

A guilty verdict after trial is the jury’s finding on the charged counts. It is not a new accusation waiting for proof. The Pocono Record reported that on Sept. 30, 2026, jurors convicted Matthew Morales, 33, of first-degree felony murder, prohibited possession of a firearm, and carrying a firearm without a license in the death of Henry Koroma Jr. at My Place Bar & Grill. Morales had testified that he feared gang retaliation; the jury rejected that defense path on the murder count.

Morales was accused of fatally shooting Henry Koroma Jr. at My Place Bar & Grill on Milford Road on May 24, 2024. The trial began Sept. 22, 2026, and the jury began deliberating the afternoon of Sept. 30. Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Rakaczewski told the Pocono Record he learned of the verdict around 6 p.m. that evening. A verdict announcement is the judgment of the jury on the counts submitted. It closes the guilt phase on those counts.

During trial, Morales testified that he feared for his life and believed Koroma and Bloods gang members would harm him for leaving the gang, the Pocono Record reported. He said he shot once after Koroma punched him in a smoking area of the bar. Cross-examination highlighted that Morales agreed Koroma did not have a weapon in hand. Testimony and cross-examination are the trial record as reported. The jury’s guilty findings are the result.

Former co-defendant Raymond Batiste, 40, of Allentown, pleaded guilty mid-trial to a second-degree misdemeanor of obstruction of the administration of law and testified for the prosecution after initially facing hindering-apprehension felonies, reporting said. Those are separate process facts about Batiste. They do not reopen Morales’s murder verdict. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.