News/Commentary

PA homeless advocate’s son, 15, charged in death of vagrant he accused of raping his girlfriend

November 26, 2023 | | Print Article

A Pennsylvania homeless advocate is reportedly devastated after his 15-year-old son was arrested for the murder of a vagrant who allegedly raped the teen’s 16-year-old girlfriend behind a dumpster.

Thomas James Niarhos, of Stowe, Pa., was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly shot a homeless man, Jeremiah Waylon Hawkins, 39, in the head on Wednesday.

According to DailyMail.com, Thomas used a gun belonging to his father, Tom Niarhos, to kill Hawkins. Police recovered the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson semi-automatic firearm from the Pottstown scene.

Tom Niarhos works at Pottstown Beacon of Hope, a nonprofit that provides the homeless with “year-round emergency shelter,” according to its website. He said Hawkins was not known to the Beacon of Hope shelter.

“The only comment I have is that it was [a] tragedy and my prayers go out to [Hawkins’] family,” Tom told DailyMail.com.

According to the outlet, the elder Niarhos “has been the executive director of the charity for the last three years, having previously experienced homelessness himself.”

Four months prior to the shooting, Thomas had told police that Hawkins had raped his girlfriend, police records revealed.

“Pottstown Police investigated the accusations at the time but received no cooperation from the girl’s family, and her mother told police they did not wish to press charges,” DailyMail.com reports.

Citing witness interviews and reviewed surveillance video, police believe Thomas went looking for Hawkins. The two were seen arguing on video.

According to police, Hawkins swung a tire iron at the boy. Thomas then allegedly fired a single shot at Hawkins’ face, and the man fell to the ground. The teen then allegedly shot Hawkins a second time and dropped his weapon. Bystanders detained him until police arrived.

“He’s a rapist, don’t be sorry for him… he raped a 15-year-old girl, don’t help him,” Thomas is said to have told police as they escorted him to the station.

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On Wednesday, the distraught father told police that he’d found a note and a packed bag of clothes in his son’s room that day, indicating that Thomas had planned to run away.

It was a crying friend who alerted Tom via phone to the incident involving his son.

He identified the firearm for the detectives from a photograph and said that, though he had recently been keeping the gun in a locked nightstand in his master bedroom, it was missing.

The teenager was “formally charged as an adult with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, possessing a firearm as a minor, among other charges,” DailyMail.com reports.

“He was formally arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Margaret Hunsicker on Nov. 22, 2023 and was remanded to the Montgomery County Youth Center,” according to the outlet. “A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30, 2023, before Magisterial District Judge Scott T. Palladino.”

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Melissa Fine
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