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Nanticoke police and Pennsylvania State Police at 203 W. Church St. in Nanticoke on May 27, 2023. Times Leader file photo
NANTICOKE — A registered sexual offender was charged with fatally beating a woman whose body was found inside an apartment on West Church Street in May 2023.
Kawan Ikee Scarborough, 39, was linked to the homicide of Lastarr Williams, 27, by bloody sneakers and clothing seized by investigators from a residence in Scranton, according to court records.
Williams was found deceased inside her apartment at 203 W. Church St., on May 27, 2023, when her daughter told a neighbor her mother would not wake up, court records say.
The child later told investigators and family, court records say, Scarborough struck Williams in the face and chest with a hammer.
Scarborough has been jailed at the county correctional facility since May 27, 2023, on allegations he violated registration requirements as a lifetime registered sexual offender due to a child sexual assault conviction in South Carolina.
Investigators with the Pennsylvania State Police at Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke police and county detectives charged Scarborough with criminal homicide and aggravated assault for Williams’ death.
Scarborough was arraigned by District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke and was sent back to the county correctional facility without bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police in Nanticoke responded to 203 W. Church St. when a girl told a neighbor her mother would not wake up on May 27, 2023.
Williams was found deceased on a bedroom floor.
Investigators observed a bloody sneaker print, blood spatter throughout the apartment and mail with Scarborough’s name.
Days before Williams was found deceased, investigators learned Scarborough was on a phone call with his sister in Scranton. His sister told investigators she heard Scarborough and a woman’s voice arguing but in a later phone call, she only heard Scarborough.
Scarborough left the West Church Street apartment and was allegedly recorded by a surveillance camera jumping over a fence at about 9:58 p.m. on May 26, 2023.
Investigators learned Scarborough was given a ride to an apartment in Scranton where Scarborough was known to frequent. Sneakers and clothing with blood spatter seized from the Scranton apartment matched Williams’ DNA, the complaint says.
While Scarborough was jailed on the sexual offender registration violation, investigators allege he told other inmates, “I kill my (expletive) with my bare hands.”
Scarborough is scheduled for a non-jury trial on the sexual offender registration charge on July 2 before President Judge Michael T. Vough.
In that case, Scarborough registered an address on Main Street, Luzerne, but had moved into Williams’ apartment in April 2023. failing to register his move.