A 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy has been charged as an adult for allegedly using his father’s semi-automatic gun to shoot a 39-year-old homeless man in the face on Wednesday.
Thomas James Niarhos has been charged with first degree murder, third degree murder, possessing a firearm by a minor, possessing an instrument of crime, and carrying a concealed weapon without a license, the Daily Voice reports. No bail is available because of the first degree murder charge.
According to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele, Niarhos had accused Jeremiah Waylon Hawkins of raping his girlfriend in July, when the teen was caught in the same area violating a curfew and taken home by police officers. It’s not clear if the girlfriend spoke with police about the allegation, or if the allegation was investigated at all.
Surveillance video showed the boy and Hawkins arguing on Wednesday, four months later, when Niarhos lifted his arm, holding a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic gun and pointing the weapon at Hawkins’ face. Hawkins swung a tire iron in an attempt to knock the gun from the boy’s hand, but Niarhos shot him in the face and then shot him a second time after he fell to the ground, then dropped the gun and walked away.
Witnesses held him on the scene until police arrived.
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“He’s a rapist, don’t feel sorry for him,” Niarhos said, according to Steele. “He raped a 15-year-old girl, don’t help him.”
Hawkins was taken to Pottstown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators determined that the weapon used in the shooting belonged to Niarhos’s father, Tom Niahros, who is executive director of Pottstown Beacon of Hope, an organizations that provides services and advocacy for homeless people. Niahros Sr. told investigators he kept the gun locked in a safe.
The younger NIahros is expected in court Thursday.
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