Kawan Ikee Scarborough when he was arraigned by District Judge Donald Whittaker in Nanticoke on criminal homicide charges on June 5, 2024.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader file photo
WILKES-BARRE — Homicide suspect Kawan Ikee Scarborough decided on a non-Luzerne County jury trial on allegations he fatally assaulted a woman inside her Nanticoke residence in 2023.
Scarborough, 41, and his attorneys, James J. Scanlon and Sidney D. May, appeared before Court of Common Pleas Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky Jr. for a status conference on Monday.
During the brief proceeding, Scanlon and May said Scarborough opted for a bench trial on an open count of criminal homicide and aggravated assault.
Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Brian A. Coleman, who, along with Assistant District Attorney Gerry Scott, is prosecuting, expects his case-in-chief to take a week.
After reviewing several dates for Scarborough’s trial, Sklarosky suggested early December, but an exact trial start date will be selected at a later time.
The Pennsylvania State Police at Wilkes-Barre, and detectives from Nanticoke City police and the district attorney’s office charged Scarborough in June 2024 with fatally beating Lastarr Williams with a hammer inside her apartment. Williams’ body was found by a neighbor on May 27, 2023, when Williams’ then 5-year-old daughter went outside saying she could not wake up her mother.
Investigators recovered Scarborough’s sneakers and clothing that had blood spatter from an apartment in Scranton, where he was known to stay. The blood on Scarborough’s sneakers and clothing matched the DNA profile of Williams, according to court records.
Coleman and Scott are waiting for a decision by Sklarosky to allow two forensic interviewers at two Children’s Advocacy Centers to testify during Scarborough’s trial.
The two forensic interviewers questioned the girl prior to Scarborough being charged.
Scarborough remains jailed without bail at the county correctional facility.
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