Pennsylvania
15-year-old charged as adult in fatal shooting of homeless man in Pennsylvania
A 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and other charges in connection to the fatal shooting of a homeless man in the face, prosecutors said.
Jeremiah Waylon Hawkins, 39, was shot on Nov. 22 after he was confronted by the teenager in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, a borough about 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich. USA TODAY is not naming the teen because he is a minor.
The teen was arraigned the same day by a district judge in the Montgomery County’s Magisterial District Court, Steele and Markovich said in a news release. He faces one count each of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm by a minor, and possession of a weapon, according to online court records.
The suspect is being held at the Montgomery County Youth Center and was denied bail, authorities said. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.
It is unclear whether the teen has retained an attorney. Online court records show that he was advised of his right to apply for assignment of counsel but declined to request a public defender.
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Victim found with ‘obvious’ gunshot wound to head
Shortly after 12 p.m. on Nov. 22, authorities said responding Pottstown police officers were dispatched to the scene and discovered Hawkins lying on the street with “an obvious gunshot wound to the head.”
The victim, who was experiencing homelessness at the time of the shooting, was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office determined that Hawkins had died from a gunshot to the head and ruled the death a homicide.
An investigation by the Pottstown Police Department and Montgomery County detectives found that the teen had “sought out Hawkins” before the two got into an argument, according to multiple witness interviews and surveillance video. During the argument, authorities said Hawkins “swung a tire” at the suspect who had his arm extended toward Hawkins and was also holding a gun.
When Hawkins attempted to knock the gun out of the teen’s hand, authorities added that the teen fired a single shot at Hawkins’ face. The victim fell immediately and the suspect fired another shot before dropping the firearm, according to authorities.
As the teen walked away from the scene, authorities said bystanders nearby detained him. Responding officers who arrested the suspect recovered a .40 semi-automatic firearm at the scene.
Detectives determined the firearm belonged to the suspect’s father, according to authorities.
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Pennsylvania gun laws
According to Pennsylvania State Police, individuals who are 21 and older may apply for a license to carry firearms. But the state has “no law that imposes a penalty on someone who fails to secure an unattended firearm and leaves it accessible to an unsupervised minor,” according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The state House Judiciary Committee was scheduled to consider bills earlier this month that would require the secure storage of firearms in homes with minors and impose penalties for guardians who allow a minor to possess or use a firearm, Spotlight PA reported. But those bills were tabled.
Advocates across Pennsylvania have called for state officials to pass gun control measures in light of recent mass shootings and a spike in gun violence across the country. Despite advancements by Democrats in Pennsylvania’s state House of Representatives, the measures have faced criticism and have not been considered in the Republican-controlled state Senate.
Surge in gun violence across the U.S.
There have been at least 39,015 gun violence deaths in the country so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit publicly sourced database.
Over 48,000 people died from gun-related injuries in 2021 – a 23% increase from the roughly 39,000 deaths in 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of gun murders has also grown since 2019, accounting for nearly 21,000 of those gun-related injury deaths in 2021 – a 45% increase.
Contributing: Sarah Elbeshbishi, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Pennsylvania
Fetterman: I think Biden will win Pennsylvania in 2024 | CNN Politics
Fetterman: I think Biden will win Pennsylvania in 2024
Senator John Fetterman tells CNN’s Jake Tapper “I do believe that Joe Biden is going to carry” Black voters by wide margins in November, but the election is “going to be very close.”
Pennsylvania
Weather alert issued for dense fog in part of Pennsylvania Sunday morning
A report from the National Weather Service was issued on Sunday at 6:03 a.m. for dense fog until 8 a.m. for Westmoreland Ridges, Fayette Ridges and Higher Elevations of Indiana as well as Mercer, Venango, Forest, Lawrence, Butler, Clarion, Beaver, Allegheny, Armstrong, Washington, Greene, Westmoreland, Fayette and Indiana counties.
“Patchy dense fog is ongoing this morning, especially in and around river valleys and areas that saw the heaviest rainfall this weekend. If traveling, take it slow and allow extra time to reach your destination. Fog should begin to lift in most locations after 8 am,” according to the weather service.
Fog safety: Tips from the weather service for safe travels
If you must drive in foggy conditions, keep the following safety tips in mind:
Reduce speed:
- Slow down and allow extra travel time to reach your destination safely.
Visibility priority:
- Ensure your vehicle is visible to others by using low-beam headlights, which also activate your taillights. If you have fog lights, use them.
Avoid high-beams:
- Refrain from using high-beam lights, as they create glare, making it more difficult for you to see what’s ahead of you on the road.
Keep your distance:
- Keep a considerable following distance to account for sudden stops or shifts in traffic patterns.
Stay in your lane:
- Use the road’s lane markings as a guide to staying in the correct lane.
Visibility near zero:
- In situations of near-zero visibility due to dense fog, activate your hazard lights and seek a secure location, such as a nearby business’s parking lot, to pull over and come to a stop.
Limited parking options:
- If no parking area is available, pull your vehicle as far to the roadside as possible. Once stationary, turn off all lights except the hazard flashers, engage the emergency brake, and release the brake pedal to ensure your tail lights are not illuminated, reducing the risk of other drivers colliding with your stationary vehicle.
By adhering to these weather service precautions, you can navigate foggy conditions more safely, reducing the likelihood of accidents and ensuring your personal safety.
Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Pennsylvania
'Stop Trump Summit': Conference debates if Pa. will ‘go blue’ in 2024
Abortion is a hot issue
Salon senior politics writer Amanda Marcotte led a panel titled “Will abortion decide this election?”
Local speakers Lizbeth Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Women’s Center, Drexel University law professor David Cohen, and Rutgers Law professor Kimberly Mutcherson participated in the discussion.
Marcott asked how the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which overturned Roe v. Wade has affected abortion access in the state.
“In Pennsylvania, abortion is legal,” Rodriguez said. “However, legality has never meant accessibility for folks. For a lot of marginalized communities, these barriers, bad laws and restrictions on providers have been affecting us for the past 50 years.”
Cohen said states like Pennsylvania have a responsibility to expand access.
“We’ve seen states around the country where abortion remains legal, where pro-choice legislators and governors have actually started actually doing what we’ve wanted them to do for decades – which is get rid of restrictions that have remained on the books even in liberal states and fund abortion,” he said.
Panelists said they are seeing some women come to Pennsylvania from other states seeking abortion support. But Rodriguez says the state is “still very restricted.”
“We have the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act with mandatory waiting periods, restrictions on young folks, and a number of restrictions on providers that truly make it difficult for folks in red states to come and seek care here,” she said.
Mutcherson told Marcotte that New Jersey has gone much farther in terms of expanding access.
“There are lots of jokes about New Jersey, but if you are a person who cares about reproductive healthcare and abortion in particular, New Jersey is at the top of the list,” she said. “We have a great reproductive freedom act that was passed even before Dobbs came down. We do not have the kinds of restrictions that a lot of states have, including gestational limits. You can use Medicaid to pay for abortion in New Jersey. So low income women have access to abortion in ways that are not true in a lot of other states.”
All eyes on PA
Biden is expected to heavily focus on Pennsylvania this election cycle, given the importance of a win for either candidate but also his affinity for his birth state.
“Biden loves Pennsylvania,” writer and author Molly Jong-Fast said, noting that a Biden staff member told her “Biden is always in a good mood when we go to Harrisburg.”
She added that she doesn’t believe in polls – which are giving an edge to Donald Trump in Pennsylvania – and that Biden had advantages the former president doesn’t.
Biden is “a politician because he’s good at connecting with people,” she said.
Saturday’s event was co-sponsored by Project on Government Oversight. Other speakers included University of Pennsylvania law professor Claire Finkelstein, Drexel Klinke School of Law professor David Cohen, The Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, Salon politics writer Amanda Marcotte, Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman, The New Republic staff writer Walter Shapiro, and POGO Action policy counsel Joe Spielberger.
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