WILKES-BARRE -- A homicide suspect in Luzerne County is accused of shooting three young people in Plymouth this past summer over a drug deal. The day before, a man was killed in broad daylight in Wilkes-Barre.
Police believe Shawn Hamilton was involved with killing a total of four people over two days.
Hamilton was arrested in July for the shooting deaths of three people in Plymouth. Now he faces another homicide charge, this one for the death of Kenyatta Hughston on Jay Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The news came as a shock to the people who knew the victim.
"Wow. That's a lot of bodies under your belt," said one person.
Police said Hughston was shot in the back of the head in broad daylight on July 6. He was in critical condition for months until he died in October.
Olanda Carter knew Hughston and happened to be in court when Hamilton was read his new charge. She's still trying to come to terms with Hughston's death.
"The kids, and these kids keep killing each other. They grew up together. They was friends. It's just sickening. It just makes me sick," said Carter, of Wilkes-Barre.
According to court papers, the shell casings that police found in the area on Jay Street match the weapon that they found at Shawn Hamilton's home in Nanticoke, and that's just one of the clues that placed Hamilton at the shooting.
Another clue? Police said they found Kenyatta Hughston's blood on Hamilton's sneakers. Court papers said both shootings were drug related, and that Hamilton visited Hughston while he was in the hospital.
Carter said they were close friends, and this shooting just doesn't make sense.
"Why? Why kill somebody, shoot them in the head in the middle of the street? Somebody you know. It just make me sick on my stomach. Kenyatta's death never set easy with me," said Carter.
Earlier this week, the district attorney filed a petition for the death penalty for Hamilton for the shootings in Plymouth.
Shawn Hamilton is back in the Luzerne County Prison, where he's been since his arrest in July.