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Accused Killer Headed to Trial

WILKES-BARRE — A man from Nanticoke will head to trial on a homicide charge in Wilkes-Barre. Authorities accuse Shawn Hamilton of shooting four people in ...

WILKES-BARRE -- A man from Nanticoke will head to trial on a homicide charge in Wilkes-Barre.

Authorities accuse Shawn Hamilton of shooting four people in Luzerne County over a two-day span during the summer. All four died.

The charges Sullivan answered to Wednesday stem from a shooting in Wilkes-Barre, in which one person died.

For the third time in two weeks, Shawn Hamilton showed up at a Magistrate's court in Wilkes-Barre.

"Do you have anything to say?" Newswatch 16 asked.

"No," said Hamilton.

A judge ruled there is enough evidence to send him to trial for homicide.

Police believe Hamilton shot Kenyatta Hughston, of Wilkes-Barre, in the back of the head in broad daylight on Jay Street July 6. Hughston died in October after months spent in the hospital.

Kenyatta's cousin, Maliea, said it's been tough for them and Kenyatta's six-month-old daughter. She was born just a few weeks before the shooting.

"We're just going to keep the memory of her father in her as much as we can, just constantly bring up how good he was, and I mean if he was here, how good of a father he would be," said Kenyatta's cousin, Maliea Jamerson.

In court, investigators said they found a gun in Shawn Hamilton's home that matched the shell casings found on Jay Street. They also said blood on Shawn Hamilton's sneakers matched Kenyatta Hughston's.

In court, one man testified to driving Shawn Hamilton to Jay Street on July 6 to meet up with a friend. He said he waited for him around the corner and he noticed that when Hamilton came back to the car, he was carrying a gun.

Hamilton also faces homicide charges for a shooting that left three people dead in Plymouth the day after the shooting in Wilkes-Barre. Hamilton's attorney said the cases will be kept separate.

Separate or not, Maliea hopes Hamilton gets what she said he deserves.

"I'm just happy that my little cousin's going to get justice or that justice is going to be served because that man did not deserve to be taken out the way he was taken out," said Jamerson.

Hamilton remains locked up in the Luzerne County Prison.

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