Nanticoke man arraigned for role in Kingston fatal shooting

Ed Lewis, The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
·1 min read

Oct. 14—KINGSTON — A Nanticoke man was arraigned Thursday for his alleged role in a fatal shooting in Kingston last month.

Jakir Bacote, 22, of Enterprise Street, fired a round from a 9mm in the direction of Peter McCoy, 38, during a dispute outside Leonardo's Club on Main Street on Sept. 10, according to court records filed by detectives with Kingston police and the Luzerne County district attorney's office.

Court records say McCoy, of Wilkes-Barre, was leaving the tavern and attempted to back up his Honda Civic from a parking stall but was blocked by Bacote, Tyquan Lassiter, 26, and a third person.

McCoy asked the trio to move when Bacote and Lassiter allegedly fired rounds into the ground near McCoy's feet.

Lassiter, of Hackensack, N.J., walked around the Honda and allegedly fired several shots striking McCoy in the head.

Lassiter was captured by the U.S. Marshals Service, Kingston police and Luzerne County detectives at his residence Sept. 23. Lassiter was charged with an open count of criminal homicide and illegal possession of a firearm. He was jailed at the county correctional facility without bail.

After the shooting, Bacote surrendered Sept. 14 on an arrest warrant charging him with felony drug trafficking filed by Wilkes-Barre police.

Bacote was arraigned by District Judge James J. Haggerty in Kingston on two counts of aggravated assault and a single count of illegal possession of a firearm related to the shooting. He was jailed for lack of $200,000 bail.