Connect with us

Northeast

Pennsylvania man allegedly killed, dismembered transgender teen he met on LGBTQ dating site: docs

Published

on

Pennsylvania man allegedly killed, dismembered transgender teen he met on LGBTQ dating site: docs

A Pennsylvania man is behind bars after he allegedly lured a transgender teen into the woods and dismembered the victim last month after meeting on an online dating app.

DaShawn Watkins, 29, is charged in the death of 14-year-old Pauly Likens, who was last seen on June 22 and reported missing by a family member on June 25, according to a criminal complaint filed with the Mercer Police Department.

The document stated that Likens’ father, who referred to Pauly as his son, contacted police to report that his child was missing after no one had heard from the teen since the early morning hours of June 23. 

Likens was allegedly going to stay the night with an unknown friend, the complaint said.

BODY OF INDIANAPOLIS WOMAN FOUND INSIDE STORAGE TOTE IN WOODS A WEEK AFTER BEING REPORTED MISSING

Advertisement

Dashawn Dale Depree Watkins, 29, of Sharon, Pennsylvania is in the Mercer County Prison in connection with the brutal dismembering of 14-year-old Pauly Likens. (Mercer County Prison )

The Hermitage Police Department responded on June 25 to a report of dismembered human remains recovered at Shenango River Lake in Clark Borough, Pennsylvania. After compiling the teen’s cellphone location, interviewing friends and viewing surveillance footage, it was determined that Likens was in that area on June 23.

The Mercer County coroner later confirmed the “various dismembered human remains” that police discovered over the next week belonged to Likens.

A forensic pathologist determined that the teen was dismembered by “some type of cutting instrument.”

The 14-year-old’s cause of death was revealed to be sharp force trauma to the head, according to the document, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Advertisement

MISSOURI MAN WORE WOMEN’S CLOTHES WHILE HE TORTURED THEM IN SEX LAIR, DUMPED AT LEAST 1 BODY IN RIVER: POLICE

Surveillance footage, social media records and cellphone records linked Watkins to the scene of the horrific murder, according to the criminal complaint. He has been charged with murder, aggravated assault, evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

The 29-year-old allegedly told authorities that he met Likens on popular LGBTQ dating app, Grindr, and the two agreed to meet up.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed support for the Likens family on Tuesday and advocated for state laws “to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro, D-Penn., offered support for the family of 14-year-old Pauly Likens in an X post on Tuesday after the teen’s death and dismemberment was confirmed. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Advertisement

“The First Lady and I are thinking of Pauly Likens’ friends, family, and our entire LGBTQ+ community right now,” he wrote in a X post on Tuesday.

“Pennsylvania State Police’s investigation is ongoing, and her horrific murder must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote. “It’s past time to strengthen Pennsylvania’s laws to treat hate-based crimes against LGBTQ+ folks the same way other hate crimes are treated.”

Authorities have not confirmed if the homicide was a hate crime.

Watkins is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on July 25. 

Advertisement

Fox News Digital has reached out to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office and the Pennsylvania State Police for comment.



Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pennsylvania

Downed trees amid strong storms close roadways in central Pennsylvania, PennDOT says

Published

on

Downed trees amid strong storms close roadways in central Pennsylvania, PennDOT says


PennDOT is reporting multiple road closures and hazards Saturday night as storms sweep through central Pennsylvania.

In the borough of Dauphin, a tree went into a car on 22/322 West, according to spokesperson Fritzi Schreffler.

There are several trees down on 11/15 North coming from I-81, heading to Marysville just across the Perry County line.

She also said I-81 South is closed at exit 85 for a jackknifed tractor-trailer. There are no details on injuries or other vehicles involved at this time, and the cause for the crash is unclear.

Advertisement

Traffic cameras show backup on I-81 near MM 84.8 on June 6, 2026, after storms swept through the area. (511PA)

Lancaster police notified the public of a road closure in the city, saying a tree fell onto the street on the first block of E. Vine St.

Comment with Bubbles

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

You can check 511PA for live traffic conditions.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Rhode Island

Police investigating suspicious death in Cumberland

Published

on

Police investigating suspicious death in Cumberland


CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) – Police in Cumberland are investigating what officials are classifying at this time as a suspicious death.

Investigators have been on the scene at 46 E Barrow St. all day, with detectives in and out of the home.

The Rhode Island State Police sent their mobile crime lab to the scene. The entire house is taped off.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as we work to gather more information.

Advertisement

Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.

Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.

Follow us on social media:

 

 

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Vermont

Vermont to build Green Mountain Youth Center – Valley News

Published

on

Vermont to build Green Mountain Youth Center – Valley News


Vermont plans to build a permanent locked facility for young people involved in the state’s justice system in South Burlington, the state announced this week.

The 14-bed facility, called the Green Mountain Youth Center, would hold youth ages 12 through 18, according to an announcement from the Vermont Department for Children and Families.

The new facility aims to permanently replace the scandal-plagued Woodside Youth Rehabilitation Center in Essex, which closed in 2020 amid allegations of staff abuse. In 2023, the state agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought on behalf of seven youth over the use of force at the facility.

Advertisement

The state has said the new facility will take a more therapeutic approach and fill a gap in Vermont’s existing juvenile justice system. It will provide youth with a “highly structured, intensive clinical setting,” according to the department’s release.

The permanent facility is slated to have an eight-bed crisis stabilization unit for youth awaiting trial and a six-bed residential treatment program for youth who have gotten a court decision, the release said.

Meanwhile, Matthew Bernstein, the state’s child, youth and family advocate, said the state’s messaging is disingenuous.

“This is a detention facility,” Bernstein said.

Despite the announcement, building the South Burlington facility might not be as simple as it seems. The state has fumbled two different bids to build the facility in two years after running into zoning obstacles and opposition from residents in both Newbury and Vergennes.

Advertisement

While plans for a permanent facility were up in the air, the state opened a temporary facility in Middlesex, Vt., in 2024. That four-bed facility, Red Clover Treatment Center, was built as a short-term stopgap. But now the state has depended on it for longer than expected, raising concerns about the space’s limitations.

Regarding the state’s latest plan for a permanent facility, Bernstein said he takes issue with its model. He worries the facility is too big for the state’s needs and will steer money in the wrong direction.

“Our concern is that there’s still vastly insufficient investment upstream,” Bernstein said. State money could be better spent, for example, on at-home programs that provide kids and their families with therapeutic and behavioral support, he said.

Earlier interventions could prevent kids from ending up in state custody, according to Bernstein.

“A facility like this is the failure of other interventions,” he said.

Advertisement

Before the state can open the permanent facility, it has a long road ahead.

Officials are still in the early planning stages and expect to begin the permitting process later this year, according to the department’s announcement. If all goes as planned, the state said it could begin construction in the spring of 2027 and have the facility running by the summer of 2028.

The state plans to build the facility on Meadowland Drive, a short dead-end road off of Route 116, south of Burlington International Airport.

“We’ve been working to identify a location that offers the right balance of access to critical supports, infrastructure, and community partnership, and we believe South Burlington provides that opportunity,” Sandi Hoffman, the department’s commissioner, said in the release.

Paul Conner, director of planning and zoning for South Burlington, said he had a preliminary conversation with state officials but has not received a formal application.

Advertisement

The parcel sits in the city’s industrial district, where the facility would be allowed under local regulations, Conner said. If the state applies, the South Burlington Development Review Board would hold a hearing and take public input, but its job is to decide whether the design complies with those regulations, he added.

Earlier this year, Vermont also inked a five-year contract worth $21.5 million for a Brattleboro facility designed for youth in crisis or with intense needs. The state contracted with the Pennsylvania company Cornell Abraxas Group, which has faced allegations that its staff mistreated youth in their care, to run the three-bed facility.

As long as the state lacks a permanent place to hold youth, it will continue to rely on Red Clover.

When Red Clover is full, the state may hold youth in adult prisons or send them to out-of-state facilities. One strength of Red Clover is that its small size allows for close attention and care, Bernstein said. But it’s still a detention facility, he added.

“This is not a place where anybody should grow up, right?” he said.

Advertisement

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending