WILKES-BARRE -- It's been more than four months since Tyler Winstead was shot and killed at a home on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre.
At the time, the boy's friend told police a drive-by shooter killed Winstead, but court papers filed Wednesday morning say that the friend and his mother lied to cover up what really happened.
Charges were filed against Angelina Deabreu, the mother of the victim's best friend Elijah Yussuf.
According to the documents, Yussuf admitted to police he was holding a gun inside his bedroom when the gun went off and killed Tyler Winstead.
Winstead, 14, died on April 5 and was found outside his home on Hill Street in Wilkes-Barre. Since then, speculation and rumors have swirled in the neighborhood as to how and why someone would shoot and kill the G.A.R. High School student.
Police homed in on a nearby home where Winstead's friend Elijah Yussuf lived.
According to an arrest warrant filed against Yussuf's mother Angelina Deabreu, both she and Yussuf lied to police about how Winstead was shot.
According to court documents, Winstead was in Yussuf's bedroom. Yussuf unlocked a hollowed out book and pulled out a revolver. With his finger on the trigger, Yussuf turned toward Winstead, and the gun went off, killing Winstead. The court papers said that Yussuf took Winstead's body outside the home, called 911, and told police a drive-by shooter killed Winstead.
According to police, Deabreu then lied to investigators, saying there were no guns inside the home.
Police also said after the shooting, she told neighbors there was a gun in the backyard and that she wanted it hidden.
Neighbors said they suspected Yussuf and his mom tried to cover it up all along.
"We`re glad it`s over and maybe now some forgiveness but it would have been easier in the beginning instead of the running around and the this that and if the truth had been told then, we wouldn`t have had to go through this," said neighbor Annie Bryant.
Angelina Deabreu is charged with corruption of minors, tampering with evidence, and filing false reports.
Yussuf has also been charged in connection with Winstead's death, but because he is a juvenile, and he's not charged with homicide, his records have been sealed.