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Kahseem Williams, 18, was captured by the US Marshals while Jahme Barnes, 17, remains at large, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said. Both are facing various murder charges in the Pottstown killing of 25-year-old Dakari Rome, who was struck by a bullet that went through the second victim's hand, police said.
Williams was arrested Thursday, Sept. 1 inside a home in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia by the U.S. Marshal’s, who took him into custody without incident.
Barnes is Black, with black hair, stands 4-foot, 7-inches tall and weighs 115 pounds. If she is spotted call 911. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call the Pottstown Police Department at 610-970-6570 or Montgomery County Detectives at 610-226-5553.
Pottstown police responding to reports of shots fired around 10 p.m. near Grant Street and Union Alley found blood stains and several fired cartridge casings. Minutes later, police were notified that two gunshot victims arrived by separate private vehicles at Pottstown Hospital.
Rome was suffering from a single gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead by an emergency room physician. The second victim, 17-year-old male identified only as J.H., was driven to the hospital by his mother. He was treated for a gunshot wound to his hand and was released.
JH and Rome had been two victims were “hanging out” with Williams and Barnes, along with another female, in Rome's Audi SUV — Barnes behind the wheel, Steele said.
Barnes was seen in surveillance video arriving at the Gulf Gas Station on High Street at 9:08 p.m., where she, Rome and Williams got out of the SUV and into the gas station, while J.H. and the unknown female remained in the back seat of the vehicle.
The car then went to a parking lot in the 600 block of Grant Street, where the group played the “Orbeez Challenge,” a TikTok challenge involving shooting water beads from an air soft gun.
The Audi was then driven by Barnes to Grant Street at Union Alley, where the shooting happened. The investigation found that Williams, who was seated in the passenger side rear seat of the vehicle, produced a firearm and handed it to Barnes in the driver’s seat before he got out of the vehicle at 9:59 p.m.
Barnes pointed the gun at J.H., who reached toward the gun and was shot by Barnes in his left hand. The bullet went through J.H.’s hand and hit Rome in the chest. On video, J.H. can be seen getting out of the car and running down Union Alley.
Barnes then gets out of the car and handed the firearm to Williams, who fires several shots at J.H. Both defendants get back into the vehicle, along with the other female still in the car, and drove the injured Rome to the emergency room.
Williams was charged with Third-Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, Conspiracy, Firearms without a License, Possessing an Instrument of Crime and Possession of a Firearm by a Minor. He is awaiting arraignment. A preliminary hearing will be set at that time.
The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Gabrielle Hughes and Robert Waeltz, of the Pottstown Community Justice Unit.
Anonymous text tips can be submitted using MontcoCrimeTips on the STOPit! app. The STOPit! app can be downloaded for free from the App Store for iPhones or Google Play for Androids, then use code MONTCOPA to get the Montgomery County version of the app.
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