- Times Leader

First Posted:

WILKES-BARRE — An autopsy on the body of Tyzheke Seward showed he died from multiple gunshot wounds, the city’s second or possibly the third intentional homicide this year.

Seward, 23, of Wilkes-Barre, was found dead on a hilly field in the Interfaith Apartment complex near Coal Street Thursday morning.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Gary Ross conducted the autopsy at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital on Friday, ruling Seward died from multiple gunshot wounds. The manner of death is a homicide, the coroner’s office said.

A resident of Interfaith Heights, whose apartment is near the field, said he heard two gunshots sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. Thursday. He said gunfire is “nothing out of the ordinary” in the area.

Court records say Seward was facing drug trafficking charges filed by Hanover Township police in November.

Police did not release information about the ongoing investigation.

Seward’s death was the second official homicide probe in the city as a fatal fire investigation remains pending.

Al-Tariq Peterkin, 34, was charged in April for the fatal stabbing of Charles Edmonds, 27, during a fight about loud music inside their apartment building on South Hancock Street on April 7. Police recovered a knife that Peterkin allegedly hid in a stairwell wall inside the building.

Police continue to investigate the death of Laurie Merritt, 51, who died from carbon monoxide intoxication due to a fire at her house on Wyoming Street on April 14. Merritt was found by firefighters in a crawl space attic of her single story family house.

A state police deputy fire marshal determined the fire was intentionally set.

Merritt’s death was initially ruled accidental by the coroner’s office but was changed to undetermined after conferring with the district attorney’s office, state police and city police on May 28.

No charges have been filed in the deaths of Seward and Merritt.