Two suspects in Scranton stabbing seek release on bail
Sep. 15—A Lackawanna County judge should reduce the "excessive" bail keeping two Scranton teenagers jailed for their alleged roles in a lethal stabbing this summer outside the a city high school, their lawyers argued.
The $500,000 bail amounts holding 16-year-old Nahsyeis Williams and 17-year-old Sheldon Datilus are appropriate because their serious charges and ties to gangs mean they pose a danger to society, the county district attorney's office replied.
A hearing is scheduled Nov. 2 before Judge Mary Walsh Dempsey to decide the matter.
The two teenagers were charged as adults with aggravated assault as an accomplice and related counts because city police alleged they participated in a fight in which 18-year-old Tyler McKenna was stabbed to death.
A third teenager who police said actually wielded the knife, Amir Williams, 16, of 528 Wheeler Ave., is held without bail for criminal homicide and related offenses.
Police responded to Olive Street for a large fight June 22, where they found McKenna bleeding from several stab wounds. As police arrived, those involved in the fight started to run.
Dispatchers with the Lackawanna County Communications Center relayed the description of the alleged assailants and the police tracked down the three teenagers. Datilus and Amir Williams had blood on their clothing.
Attorney James Mulligan, who represents Nahsyeis Williams, of 227 Stephen Ave., argued in a motion there is no risk of his client fleeing if released on bail because he has lived in Scranton his entire life in a home his parents own. His mother owns a business. Williams would like to attend school while his charges are pending. He attended cyber school through the Scranton School District at the time he was arrested.
Likewise, Attorney Patrick M. Rogan, who represents Datilus, of 410 Harrison Ave., argued his client also wants to continue his education. He is a high-school student in Brooklyn, New York, who summers in Scranton with his biological mother.
In both cases, circumstances have not changed since a magisterial district judge reviewed their complaints and set bail, Deputy District Attorney Drew Krowiak wrote in a reply. Dempsey should deny their requests, he said.
Meanwhile, Amir Williams' attorney, Matthew Muckler, of Kingston, is seeking court-appointment of psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, Ph.D., who could testify to the teenager's "amenability to treatment," according to a motion filed in court.
Heilbrun, who requires a $7,200 fee, is a professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia whose research interests include forensic mental health and violence risk assessments, as well as risk-reducing interventions, according to his biography on the university's webpage.
The three have preliminary hearings scheduled Sept. 23.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.
