NORRISTOWN — A West Pottsgrove Township teenager who admitted to fatally shooting a man during an altercation the day before Thanksgiving, just yards from the Pottstown police station, faces time in a juvenile detention facility before heading to an adult prison for up to two decades.
Thomas James Niarhos, 16, of the unit block of East Race Street, was adjudicated delinquent in Montgomery County Juvenile Court on Friday on a charge of possession of an offensive weapon, in connection with the Nov. 22, 2023, gunshot slaying of 39-year-old Jeramiah Waylon Hawkins, for which he will be committed to a secure juvenile detention facility until he reaches age 21.
Moments later, Niarhos, who was 15 at the time of the killing, also appeared in adult court where he pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder and possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison on those charges. Niarhos will begin serving the adult prison term immediately after he’s released from the juvenile facility at age 21…