Shooting turns fatal in Wilkes-Barre
WILKES-BARRE — City police obtained an arrest warrant charging Khalil Brathwaite, 19, with criminal homicide in the deadly shooting of a 33-year-old man in the area of Carey Avenue and New Alexander Street late Saturday night.
Police obtained the warrant late Sunday.
Brathwaite is accused in the shooting death of Jason Canty, of Scranton, at about 11:53 p.m. Saturday.
Canty was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township where he died at 4:29 p.m. Sunday, according to the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office.
An autopsy is scheduled for later today.
Tattoos help Kingston family deal with loss of 21-year-old daughter
KINGSTON — The sixth anniversary of Akacia Klick’s death has passed, and it’s still not known why the 21-year-old died.
Her parents, Jim and Janet Klick of Kingston, still struggle with the whys and how comes of Akacia’s death. They and their daughter Sara, now 24, have been through counseling. And they have counseled each other.
Akacia was never sick, they said. Then one day Jim came home from work and he could hear Akacia moaning in her room on the second floor of their South Dawes Avenue home. Akacia was on her hands and knees and she was non-responsive, Jim said.
He called 911. Akacia was taken to the hospital. Within two weeks, she was dead.
After she died, Akacia’s parents decided to get tattoos to celebrate the inspiration their daughter had left them. That idea turned into a tattoo party, with many family members and friends getting tattoos as well.
Janet’s tattoo is on her left arm. It’s a picture of Hello Kitty. On top it says “Heaven’s Little Baker,” and on the bottom is Akacia’s actual signature.
Jim’s tattoo is on the back of his shaved head. “Family Above All” is written across the top over a Penn State logo and Akacia’s name and dates of birth and death.
Wilkes-Barre Area school director charged with drunken driving
KINGSTON TWP. —A director with the Wilkes-Barre Area School District was charged with drunken driving after township police allege he had a strong odor of an intoxicating beverage and had trouble keeping his balance during a traffic stop.
Township police charged Edward John Evans, 60, known as Ned Evans, with a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. A criminal complaint was filed and mailed to Evans, who resides on Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre.
“I screwed up, I messed up royally here,” Evans said. “I was stopped. I want to apologize to my family, to the community, of course to the school board and superintendent for making this mistake.”
Evans said he plans to cooperate with police and is expecting to lose his driving privileges for one year.
Police allege Evans refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital where he belittled officers and hospital security staff, the complaint says.
Evans won a seat on the nine-member panel in the 2013 general election. He retired from the district as a principal at Daniel J. Flood Elementary School.
Publicly owned Kingston Pool to undergo $1 million renovation
KINGSTON — The Kingston Pool will have a significant “wow” factor look to it when it reopens for the 2016 season.
That’s what Kingston Administrator Paul Keating said about the $1 million renovation project that is set to get underway the day after the pool closes in August.
“It’s a major renovation,” Keating said. “When it’s completed, the pool will look substantially different that it does now.”
Keating said a major addition will be built to the pool, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, include a splash area and a jumbo slide at the deep end.
Kingston received $700,000 in gaming funds through the Local Share Account, administered through the Commonwealth Financing Authority of the Department of Community and Economic Development. Keating said Kingston will contribute $375,000 to the project.
Nanticoke man charged with kidnapping, raping woman in 2011
WILKES-BARRE — A person of interest in a city shooting was arraigned last week on charges he kidnapped and raped a woman in December 2011.
State police at Wyoming allege Michael Angelo Foschini Jr., 25, abducted the woman from Carey Avenue near Susquehanna Street and drove her to a cemetery in Plymouth Township where he raped her at knife point on Dec. 13, 2011, according to charges filed.
Foschini was linked to the rape by DNA evidence, arrest papers say.
Foschini submitted to providing investigators with a saliva sample as he was identified by a witness as a gunman in a Wilkes-Barre shooting this year.
Wilkes-Barre homicide suspect surrenders
WILKES-BARRE — A teenager is facing charges he fatally shot a man outside a residence on New Alexander Street over the weekend, the city’s fourth homicide this year.
Khalil Brathwaite, 19, known as “Trae,” surrendered to authorities Monday afternoon, a day after a warrant was issued charging him with criminal homicide in the shooting death of Jason Canty, 33, of Scranton, late Saturday night.
Brathwaite remained quiet as city police escorted him to his arraignment before District Judge Martin Kane in Wilkes-Barre.
Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis said Brathwaite and Canty knew each other through friends and family. She said the investigation does not indicate the shooting was drug related.
