WILKES-BARRE — A Philadelphia man charged with fatally shooting a woman inside her Matson Avenue apartment last month claims it was an accident.

Prosecutors and investigators don’t believe him.

Zien Nathaniel Council, 18, told city police Detective David Sobocinski he accidentally shot Brittney Reynolds, 26, whose partially nude body was found on a bed inside 181 Matson Ave. on Dec. 20.

“It’s clear from the evidence we put forward the Commonwealth is not buying that claim,” Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Ferentino said after Council’s preliminary hearing Tuesday on an open count of criminal homicide and two counts of theft.

Ferentino, along with assistant district attorneys Brittany Quinn and Gerry Scott, is prosecuting Council.

“We’re prepared to move forward on an open count of criminal homicide at the Luzerne County Courthouse,” Ferentino said.

Attorney Joseph Yeager, who along with Attorney Thomas Cometa is representing Council, argued there was no testimony that showed the fatal shooting was an intentional act.

After more than two hours of testimony, District Judge Thomas Malloy determined there is enough evidence for Council to face the charges in county court. He remains jailed without bail.

Council was arrested in Philadelphia on Dec. 21 when investigators tracked turnpike records from an E-Z Pass in Reynolds’ vehicle, a 1999 Toyota Camry.

Reynolds’ mother, Leslie Hynoski, testified her daughter asked to borrow her E-Z Pass to drive to Philadelphia to pick up a friend on Dec. 17. When Hynoski could not reach her daughter for several days, she called 911 requesting a welfare check on Dec. 20.

Officer David Balchun said he was let inside Reynolds’ apartment by the landlord, eventually finding her body on a bed with a pillow covering her head. Balchun also said there was a spent shell casing on a woman’s shoe next to the bed.

After Council was arrested, county Detective James Noone said he questioned Council and only advised him Reynolds was dead but did not say how she was killed.

“He said he ‘never pulled the trigger on anybody,’” Noone said. “It was a statement that was bizarre to make. That statement tells me he was there.”

Council told detectives he was alone with Reynolds when he left her apartment, and was driving her vehicle when he returned to Philadelphia on Dec. 17.

Noone said the E-Z Pass showed it was processed at the Bear Creek interchange at 6:43 p.m. and processed at the Mid-County interchange near Philadelphia at 11:28 p.m. on Dec. 17. The detective also said license plate readers, a tool used by law enforcement to verify license plates and registrations, recorded Reynolds’ vehicle in Philadelphia on Dec. 18 through Dec. 20.

Noone said when Council was arrested by Philadelphia police, he was in possession of a .380-caliber handgun that belonged to Reynolds.

Hynoski said her daughter purchased the handgun for protection due to a court restraining order she had against a former boyfriend. She said her daughter kept the handgun in a nightstand next to her bed.

A motive for the fatal shooting remains unclear and was not raised during the hearing.

Ferentino said the investigation is continuing to determine the motive.

At the start of the hearing, prosecutors added two felony theft counts against Council, alleging he stole Reynolds’ handgun and vehicle. The added felony counts are aggravating factors for the death penalty under state law.

Ferentino said it is too early to decide if prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Council, if convicted of first-degree murder.

A ‘Benefit for Brittney’ event consisting of stand-up comedians, music and basket raffles is scheduled on Jan. 26 at Border Bar on Laurel Street in Pittston with all proceeds to benefit Reynolds’ family.

Reynolds https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_Brittany-Reynolds-FB-2.jpg Reynolds Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_TTL010820Council1-2.jpg Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_TTL010820Council3-2.jpg Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader Leslie Hynoski, mother of slain Wilkes-Barre resident Brittney Reynolds, leaves district court Tuesday following a preliminary hearing for Zien Council, the man accused in her daughter’s death. https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_TTL010820Council4-2.jpg Leslie Hynoski, mother of slain Wilkes-Barre resident Brittney Reynolds, leaves district court Tuesday following a preliminary hearing for Zien Council, the man accused in her daughter’s death. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Farrentino speaks to the media after Tuesday’s preliminary hearing for homicide suspect Zien Council. https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_TTL010820Council5-2.jpg Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Farrentino speaks to the media after Tuesday’s preliminary hearing for homicide suspect Zien Council. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_TTL010820Council2-2.jpg Homicide suspect Zien Council is led out of District Judge Malloy’s office after his preliminary hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader