Maria Cerino

Current Position: Paralegal at Philadelphia District Attorney's Office

Story Last Updated: Summer 2024

The experience I had at GMercyU was amazing, especially the people I met and the connections I had and still have from going to GMercyU. It was also close to home for me.

Journey to GMercyU

Maria Cerino graduated from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School in 2009. She chose GMercyU based on its course offerings and class sizes that weren't too big, like her high school. "It felt right,” Maria said. "I liked how small the campus is. I always feared going to a big university and getting lost on campus, but at GMercyU, everything was so close it made my anxiety of being lost go away."

 

Experience in Mathematics and Criminal Justice

Maria described her major in Mathematics as “hard, but I liked the challenge.”

“The Criminal Justice minor was awesome, especially having first-hand knowledge from active police officers as well as retired officers,” Maria said.

Two faculty members who stood out to Maria are Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Doc McGrain and Professor Walter Zdunowski, now retired.

As a Criminal Justice minor, Maria joined the National Criminal Justice Honor Society.

Thesis Work

Maria combined her focus of mathematics and criminal justice for her undergraduate thesis: How Mathematics Relates to Blood Spatter Analysis.

Her work involved conducting experiments on blood spatter to determine the height of a suspect, how hard a blow was, how close the suspect was to the victim, alongside other factors.

“While challenging, I enjoyed investigating the different aspects of a crime, such as understanding the why or the how by using physical and scientific evidence,” Maria said.

Maria presented her undergraduate thesis work at the annual SEPCHE conference.

Post-Graduation

After graduating in 2014 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and a minor in Criminal Justice, Maria worked for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office as a paralegal in the trial division and homicide unit for four years.

“I had the opportunity to work alongside amazing attorneys on high profile criminal cases. I was able to use my investigative skills to develop evidence for criminal trials to ensure justice was served in serious violent crimes,” Maria said.

In this position, she learned how to manage her time while working for fifteen attorneys on hundreds of cases at one time. Maria made sure each attorney’s trial was prepped and ready well in advance.

While working for the District Attorney’s Office, I was drawn to the call of public service, and nearly pursued a career as an assistant district attorney; however, in the end I decided I loved the investigating aspect of my position more than the litigation side.

After the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Office, Maria continued to use her investigative skills as the managing paralegal of Pittsburgh at Simon & Simon, PC for three years.

“In the firm, it was my job to find out information pertaining to motor vehicle accidents or slip and falls and use my critical thinking skills to determine the merits of the case. As a manager, I was responsible for supervising five paralegals as well as helping five attorneys from our Pittsburgh Office,” Maria said.

She was also responsible for training paralegals in making sure priority tasks were managed in a time sensitive manner.

While working at Simon & Simon, PC, Maria was accepted into the St. Joseph University Master Program within the Criminal Justice Department with a focus in Intelligence and Crime Analysis.

“Working for the civil firm was great, but an amazing opportunity dropped into my lap. I received a call about a position opening up in the exact field I was getting my Master’s degree in,” Maria said.

In August 2021, Maria started a position as a criminal intelligence analyst at the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office in the Criminal Investigation Division. On a daily basis, she runs backgrounds and finds intelligence on numerous cases from homicides, narcotics, white collar crimes, and sexual assaults.

“During the short nine months I have been at this job, I have had the chance to accompany the detectives on search warrants, conduct interviews of defendants and inmates, and provide intelligence and insight into helping the detectives connect the dots for a crime and the suspect,” Maria said.

Maria graduated from St. Joseph’s University with her Master’s degree in May 2022.