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WILKES-BARRE — Milton Clark was scheduled to appear in court to enter a plea on charges he stabbed his nephew to death; however, his arraignment had to be rescheduled after he refused to leave his jail cell Wednesday morning.
Clark, 59, is currently locked up in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, where he’s been held without bail since the April 23 stabbing of his nephew, Tarese Rahjaan Previlon, 17.
According to police, Previlon came to the aid of his mother, Lynn Williams, who screamed when she noticed Clark peeping on her while taking a bath. That’s allegedly when Clark stabbed Previlon in the heart. Previlon died from his wounds two weeks later.
Clark was scheduled to appear before Luzerne County Judge Joseph F. Sklaroky Jr. in order to enter an official plea at the county level, but that appearance had to be postponed after county sheriff’s alerted the judge to Clark’s refusal to leave his jail cell.
Without a defendant, the court had no choice but to postpone the hearing. Sklarosky said he would be issuing an order to schedule the hearing for a later date.
Police say Previlon was found on a bed on the second floor of the family’s shared home on Holland Street, bleeding from his chest. He was transported to a local hospital.
Clark, meanwhile, was found a few blocks away outside the former Outsiders Tavern on South Main Street. When police ordered him to raise his hands above his head, they said he had a knife in his hand.
The man was initially charged with aggravated assault. Previlon was released from the hospital, but passed out while playing video games at a friend’s house on May 6. He was rushed to Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre Medical Center, where he passed away, with forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross saying he died of an accumulation of fluid in his heart as a result of the stab wound. Clark’s charge was changed to an open count of criminal homicide after Previlon’s death.
Clark’s attorneys, William J. Watt III and Maura Anne Armezzani, previously argued at Clark’s preliminary hearing there wasn’t compelling evidence to suggest Clark stabbed his newphew, as no one witnessed the incident, and Previlon’s exclamation of “He stabbed me,” didn’t identify who specifically stabbed them.
Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Gene Molina countered that Clark was the only person fighting Previlon when he was stabbed.
For now, Clark remains locked up in the cell he refused to leave.