Jeramiah Beamon, a 38-year-old male, was killed late on November 16, 2021, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in a shooting that unfolded in the Allison Hill section of the city. Police and prosecutors said the violence happened around Evergreen and Swatara streets as Beamon walked with Jerome Kasey and another man. What began as a night involving people who knew one another ended with Beamon shot at least five times, including three times in the head.
Investigators later said Kasey, a Baltimore man and Beamon's cousin, was the person who opened fire. Prosecutors described Beamon, Kasey, and an acquaintance, James Williams, as having come to Harrisburg that day, with trial accounts saying they were there to supply Williams with drugs to sell. After Williams reportedly made some sales, the three men were walking in the area when Kasey shot Beamon. Authorities said the gunfire continued even after Beamon was already down on the ground.
In the aftermath, Kasey did not remain in Harrisburg. Police said he left the city the next day, first going to Maryland for several days before eventually traveling to Lubbock, Texas. By late November 2021, Harrisburg police had publicly identified Kasey as the suspect and charged him with murder and firearms offenses. Authorities also learned that Williams, who was described as a Dauphin County man on probation, had gone to Texas as well.
Kasey was arrested in Lubbock on January 4, 2022, by a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, along with Williams. Kasey was turned over to local authorities there for booking and arraignment before the case continued in Pennsylvania. The investigation was helped by surveillance footage from the night of the shooting, which prosecutors said tied Kasey to the shooter seen firing at a body on the ground while another man ran away.
At trial in Dauphin County, Kasey's defense argued that Williams, not Kasey, was responsible for killing Beamon. Kasey's attorney pointed to the family relationship between Kasey and Beamon, saying the two had known each other their whole lives and suggesting that Kasey would not have killed his own cousin. Prosecutors countered with the surveillance evidence and the circumstances of Kasey's flight after the shooting.
A Dauphin County jury rejected the defense argument and convicted Jerome Kasey of first-degree murder in May 2023, deliberating for less than 20 minutes. He was also convicted of possession of a firearm by a former felon and carrying a firearm without a license. Kasey later received a life sentence in state prison for killing Beamon.
Outside the courtroom record, Beamon was remembered by family as someone who grew up in Baltimore, did well in school, encouraged younger relatives to get an education, and stayed connected with loved ones. A relative said he checked on family members throughout the year and called them on birthdays. He left behind two teenage daughters.
