On the afternoon of November 22, 2023, 39-year-old Jeremiah Waylon Hawkins was shot in the face outside the Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and later died at a local hospital. An autopsy confirmed a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.

Surveillance video and witness accounts show a 15-year-old male, Thomas Niarhos, sought out Hawkins and the two engaged in a verbal altercation that escalated; Hawkins reportedly swung a tire at Niarhos before Niarhos fired a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic. Eyewitnesses detained Niarhos at the scene and the firearm, later identified as belonging to his father, was recovered. Niarhos was taken into custody and charged as an adult with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, firearm possession by a minor, and possessing an instrument of crime; he was held without bail.

The shooting followed accusations by Niarhos that Hawkins had sexually assaulted Niarhos’s girlfriend months earlier; witnesses said Niarhos accused Hawkins of that assault at the scene and reportedly shouted that Hawkins was a rapist while being taken into custody. The alleged assault had been reported to police in July 2023 but the girl’s family declined to press charges.

Who has information about Hawkins, the events at the transportation center, or the months leading up to November 22 that could help clarify what happened?