Kingston police and Luzerne County detectives search a home on Allen Street, Luzerne Borough, on Feb. 17, during investigation into the death of Naheim Jamal Beals, 30, of Wilkes-Barre, whose body was discovered partially clothed in the middle of Evans and Grove streets at about 4:30 a.m. Feb. 12.
Coroner: Beals died of blunt head trauma from assault
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The death of a man whose body was found in the middle of a Pringle roadway last month has been ruled a homicide, the Luzerne County Coroner’s Office announced Friday.
Naheim Jamal Beals, 30, of Wilkes-Barre, was discovered partially clothed in the middle of Evans and Grove streets at about 4:30 a.m. Feb. 12. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to Friday’s report, the cause of death was blunt head trauma from physical assault, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
An autopsy was performed on Feb. 13 by forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross.
As previously reported by the Times Leader:
According to search warrant affidavits authorized by District Judge David Barilla in Forty Fort, Beals was with two other men at Swizzle Sticks, a tavern on Main Street, Edwardsville, arriving in a 2023 Infiniti QX50.
Detectives learned the Infiniti was a loaner vehicle from a dealership on state Route 315 in Wilkes-Barre. While conducting surveillance of the dealership when the Infiniti was scheduled to be returned on Feb. 14, detectives learned the identity of the driver, who is named in the search warrant affidavits.
The other man with Beals and the driver has not been identified.
The driver, who has not been charged, told detectives Beals called him to go to Swizzle Sticks, where they stayed until about 1:55 a.m. on Feb. 12.
They then drove to The Diamond Club, an adult entertainment venue in Old Forge, where they stayed for a time before leaving and encountering three women fighting in the parking lot.
The driver claimed Beals left with the females as he was known to them, according to the search warrant affidavits.
Detectives wrote in the search warrant affidavits the driver refused a request to have his face and hands photographed.
A witness reported to Luzerne County 911 of a fight involving three men outside a stopped white SUV on the North Cross Valley Expressway near the Kingston exit at about 4:21 a.m. Feb. 11, according to the search warrant affidavits.
Surveillance footage near the expressway shows a white SUV exit the highway at about the same time the witness called 911 about the fight. Other surveillance cameras recorded the white SUV travel on Union Street in Luzerne and stopping for several minutes at Evans and Grove streets, Pringle, where Beals’ body was found at 4:32 a.m.
Beals only had clothing on his upper body, and detectives located a cellular phone under his body.
Footage from surveillance cameras shows the white SUV drive through a commercial parking lot and onto Union Street before turning onto Allen Street, Luzerne, where the driver resides.
Detectives served the search warrants on the Infinity and at the Allen Street residence taking DNA swabs from inside the vehicle and the residence, clothing, hats and shoes.
Friday’s release from the coroner’s office said any additional information about the case would come from the Kingston Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police or Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.
No charges had been filed in the case as of Friday afternoon.