A homeless man has been arrested for the murder of another unhoused man whose body was recovered from the Schuylkill River earlier this year, police said this week.
Roger Gosson, 61, was charged Wednesday with murder, firearm violations, abusing a corpse and tampering with evidence in connection with the killing of 35-year-old Joshua Daywalt.
Daywalt was from Phoenixville but had been living on the street, primarily in Manayunk near the Green Lane Bridge, police shared in March as part of an attempt to spur tips from the public.
At the time of his arrest, Gosson was living alongside other people in an elaborate, multi-level makeshift shelter with an electric hookup inside the bridge, 6abc reported.
Authorities previously said Daywalt’s body was pulled from the Schuylkill on Feb. 7 after being noticed by a passerby in East Falls. A day later, the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death a homicide after finding he was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, according to police.
A father of two, Daywalt had been diagnosed with several serious mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, his mom, Jennifer, wrote in an obituary. She said his family tried to get him help but was stymied by what she described as a “broken” system for those suffering from similarly severe illnesses.
Gosson, as is typical for murder cases, is being incarcerated without bail, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 19. His legal counsel could not be identified through legal records Wednesday.
Court documents indicate he has a pending theft case stemming from an arrest in October 2024.
