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Second suspect charged in Scranton homicide

Quamir Robinson faces criminal homicide, robbery, and related charges in connection with the death of Benjamin Thompson.

SCRANTON, Pa. — A second suspect has been charged in connection with a homicide in Scranton last week. A third suspect is still at large.

Officers responded to Jackson Street just after midnight on May 15 and found Benjamin Thompson, 36, unresponsive in a car. Thompson later died at the hospital.

Rahjuan Morgan, 24, and Quamir Robinson, 22, both face criminal homicide and conspiracy charges.

Investigators say the third man, Malachi Darden, 19, is responsible for shooting Thompson.

Police are still searching for Darden after that homicide in Scranton.

According to court paperwork, the three men lured Thompson to Jackson Street by proposing they buy marijuana from him. In reality, they planned to rob him.

"Here," texted Thompson. "At family dollar."

"Bet," replied a man police identified as Morgan.

Home surveillance cameras in the area managed to capture the shooting and subsequent flight of the three conspirators. A witness was able to identify Morgan as one of the men on screen.

Detectives arrested Morgan on May 16 and he "readily admitted his involvement in the homicide and robbery of the victim," police said. He told investigators he was with Robinson and another man — later identified as Darden — and the trio ordered a half-pound of marijuana from Thompson, Morgan's "weed dealer."

That much marijuana would cost $700, police said. The trio also had no intention of paying.

When Thompson arrived at the meet-up spot, Darden racked a semi-automatic handgun and approached Thompson's car, Morgan told investigators.

Morgan reached into the passenger side of the car and swiped the marijuana. Darden "let know go," as he later told Morgan, and shot Thompson, according to a criminal complaint.

On Monday, investigators arrested Robinson at his home in Dunmore, police said.

Morgan and Robinson area locked up at the Lackawanna County Prison without bail on charges related to criminal homicide and robbery. They both have preliminary hearings tentatively scheduled May 31.

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