26-year-old jailed after killing in area apartment

A 26-year-old East Stroudsburg man is being held without bail on charges he shot and killed a 25-year-old man on Thursday afternoon in the Monroe County borough, authorities report.

Stroud Area Regional officers were called at 3:25 p.m. to a shooting in one of the apartments on Barnum Street, police said in a Facebook post. The shooting scene is about a block from the police station, reports indicated.

The man, who had a chest wound and was found in an apartment doorway, was taken by Suburban EMS to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

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Witness interviews led to a suspect, police said. A 9 mm semiautomatic handgun with obliterated serial numbers was recovered at the scene, police said.

Lashawn Marquis Sanders was arrested and arraigned at 10:45 p.m. before District Judge Phillip R. Riley on charges of homicide and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number, police and court records said. Sanders was sent without bail to Monroe County jail, records show.

The news release did not explain why Sanders allegedly killed the man. Police did not identify the victim.

A neighbor told WNEP that the area has turned dangerous.

"There's been incidents on this street, there's been incidents over on the next avenue, so I'm not surprised, doesn't surprise me," Amy Krushinski said, according to the station's report. "It's not the safest when I walk (my dog). I carry pepper spray at night."

Local officers and detectives were assisted by Pennsylvania State Police from the Stroudsburg barracks, the state police forensics unit and county detectives.

Sanders' preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 10 a.m. Sept. 5 in District Judge Michael R. Muth's court. He is being represented by the county's public defender's office, records show.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.