Pocono News Section

Wilkes-Barre Murder Suspect Arrested

Wilkes-Barre Murder Suspect Arrested - Monday, March 30, 2009 at 7:25PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick & Mike Trim
Monday, Mar 30, 2009 @ 07:25pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- A woman is gunned down and killed in front of her three children in Luzerne County. Now the man police say pulled the trigger is under arrest.

Police say 34-year-old Donnell Buckner of Wilkes-Barre killed his wife, 31-year-old Kawaii Rogers-Buckner at her home on Lehigh Street. Flowers sit on the porch of her home on Lehigh Street in Wilkes-Barre.

Police caught up with Buckner at the old Great Great Northern Press near the corner of Spruce and Gilligan Streets. That's not far from where the shooting happened. A police SWAT team helped apprehend Buckner on the roof of the building.

Police say Kawaii Rogers-Buckner was murdered by her husband Sunday night, in front of their three children. Reginald Todd of Wilkes-Barre said, "There's no reason for that. I don't know what was going on with the family and everything, nothing like that, especially in front of kids. Now you got a whole family that's destroyed."

Police say Buckner wasn't supposed to be near his wife. She filed a Protection from Abuse order against him last Thursday. But police say Sunday night, Buckner sneaked in the back door, argued with his wife, and shot her several times.

Buckner has been on the run since. Robert de Trafford of Wilkes-Barre said, "I hope they catch the guy. I hope they know the truth and the right things get done. It's getting pretty bad that all around this neighborhood all of the sudden."

And this isn't Donnell Buckner's first run in with the law. Last June he was arrested for assaulting his wife. Those charges were dropped but he did plead guilty to driving drunk that same night.

Rogers-Buckner had three children. None of them were hurt in the shooting. Luzerne County District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll said, "The real tragedy here is a 31-year-old woman that was killed by her husband, but it was in front of her 3 children. The children are ages 12, 11 and 9. They're in the custody of Children and Youth."

34-year-old Donnell Buckner