Appeals Court Rejects Challenge To Evidence In Bristol Twp. Murder Case

A Pennsylvania appeals court has upheld the life sentence of a high-ranking gang member convicted in the killing of a man in an SUV.

In a non-precedential decision filed in the final hours of 2025, a three-judge panel of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the judgment of sentence for Robert Shannon Christie, 39, of Trenton.

The panel of President Judge Emeritus John T. Bender, Judge Megan McCarthy King, and Judge Maria McLaughlin rejected Christie’s claims that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of his gang affiliation and prior bad acts.

Christie was sentenced in January 2024 to life in prison without parole for the first-degree murder of Joshua Mcrae.

The conviction followed a trial where witnesses testified that Christie, who was said to be a prominent member of the Nine Trey Gangsters sect of the “Bloods” street gang, shot Mcrae five times after the victim verbally disrespected him during a drive home from a Bristol Township bar in January 2020.

On appeal, Christie argued that the trial court violated a rule by allowing testimony regarding his gang status and audio recordings where he discussed carrying firearms. He contended this evidence was used solely to portray him as a dangerous person with a propensity for violence.

Writing for the court, Bender noted that Christie had waived these issues by failing to provide a fully developed legal argument.

The judge wrote that even if the issues had been preserved, the court found the evidence was legally admissible.

“Appellant’s gang membership was relevant as evidence of his motive for killing the victim,” the opinion said.

The opinion, citing evidence, noted that Mcrae had been disrespectful toward Christie, and Christie “could not endure that level of disrespect without losing credibility and respect from subordinate gang members.”

The court further ruled that the evidence was necessary to explain the behavior of two key witnesses.

Both men were in the vehicle at the time of the shooting and later assisted Christie in burning the SUV near Trenton High School.

The panel found that Christie’s status as an “original gangster” and his history of carrying a “strap,” a street term for a firearm, explained why the witnesses were terrified of him.

According to the opinion, the context helped the jury understand why the men initially provided false information to investigators and a grand jury.

While Christie claimed at trial that he acted in self-defense, the jury rejected that theory, convicting him of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and related offenses.