Prosecutors add charges against alleged gunman in Lehman Twp. party shooting

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

Apr. 3—WILKES-BARRE — An attorney defending a Carbondale man on allegations he shot another person during an off-campus apartment party in Lehman Township is seeking to have a gunshot residue test thrown out.

Zahiar Kevon Lee, 19, along with a 14-year-old boy had their hands bagged and tested for gunshot residue after they were detained by a Dallas Borough police officer who assisted at the scene of a shooting near the Penn State — Wilkes-Barre campus on May 6, 2023, according to court records.

Lee's attorney, Benjamin Stanton, is seeking to suppress the gunshot residue test as his client was not read his Miranda rights.

Stanton made the request in a pre-trial motion that will be argued during a motions hearing scheduled Friday before Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas.

Lehman Township police charged Lee with shooting Nacier M. Green at a party on Nittany Drive.

Court records say Lee and Green were arguing about a woman at the party. During the argument, Green attempted to punch Lee who pulled out a firearm and fired a shot, striking Lee in the upper chest that punctured a lung, court records say.

Green survived the shooting.

As police in the Back Mountain responded to the scene, a Dallas Borough police officer spotted Lee and a juvenile walking about one-half mile away from the off-campus apartment complex.

Court records say the hands of Lee and the juvenile were bagged and later tested for gunshot residue.

Stanton in his pre-trial motion argued Lee was in police custody for several hours and had his hands tested for gunshot residue despite not being read his Miranda rights.

Stanton is further attempting to have any statements Lee made to police thrown out.

In a related issue, Lupas recently approved a request by prosecutors to add more charges — possession of a firearm with an altered serial number and reckless endangerment — against Lee, who also faces two counts of aggravated assault and one count each of simple assault and firearms not to be carried without a license.

Police in court records say they recovered a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun in a wooded area about 230 feet from where the shooting took place. Police allege the serial number on the handgun was altered.

Lee's trial on the charges is scheduled for June.