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The mother of a teenager who was charged earlier this month with attempted homicide faces a felony perjury offense for allegedly testifying falsely in court about her son's whereabouts on the day of the shooting, according to city police.
Lakeisha White, 46, of Pennsauken Township, New Jersey testified under oath on Jan. 26 before Judge Ryan Tira that her son, Keyon White, who turns 17 on Friday, was not in Williamsport on Sept. 12. On that day, city police allege Keyon White and Nazir Thrower, 17, of 601 Locust St., went to the 2400 block of Lila Lane, just south of Prospect Avenue and Linn Street in the city's Newbery neighborhood, and conspired in firing multiple shots into "an occupied bedroom, almost hitting a male multiple times" about 3:10 a.m., according to court records.
The male in the house dropped to the floor "in fear for his life," police said. The male said he was "walking back and forth in his room while speaking on the phone when he suddenly saw flashes and fell to the ground," police added.
In the courtroom during Keyon White's "placement hearing," investigators asked his mother "if there ever was a time her son came back to Williamsport without her," court records stated. "No, not that I'm aware of," she replied. When asked specifically if Keyon was in Williamsport at the time of the shooting, his mother answered "No he wasn't. He actually was enrolled in school," police wrote in an affidavit.
However, when investigators later obtained the teen's attendance records from the school in Pennsauken Township, "the records showed that he was not there on Sept. 12 and Sept. 13. Police allege that "knowing that her son was not in school on Sept. 12, she withdrew him from the high school three days later," court records stated.
The mother was in Williamsport on Tuesday for her son's preliminary hearing before District Judge Christian Frey on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure and carrying a firearm without a license. Taken into custody at Frey's office, the mother was arraigned before District Judge Aaron Biichle and released on $50,000 bail.
At the conclusion of her son's preliminary hearing, Frey reserved his decision in the case. Co-defendant Thrower, who faces four separate counts of conspiracy, waived his hearing. Both teens are being tried as adults and are being held at the Lycoming Prison on no bail.