Kahmir De Lapara

Kahmir DeLapara is escorted to his hearing today on homicide charges.

(Express-Times Photo | TIM WYNKOOP)

Fearing a plot against him, a drug dealer fatally shot a 28-year-old woman last month to rob her first, court records say.

Police today charged Kahmir "Skeem" DeLapara, 20, of the 300 block of Palmer Street in Easton, in the Sept. 22 homicide of Amanda Stratford, whose body was found in a pickup truck on South Peach Street in Easton.

Hoping to find evidence in the fatal shooting,

on a narcotics warrant, police said. DeLapara and his girlfriend, Kelly Craven, were arrested on drug charges.

and that she'd been helping police. Her story was backed up by a criminal complaint against DeLapara that was released this afternoon. She'd contacted police a few days after the killing.

"I'm not understanding why I'm sitting here right now," the mother of two told a judge after her arrest this morning. Craven said she tried to do something to help out people and now she is a "horrible person."

Cops: Drugs exchanged for borrowing truck

Amanda Stratford, 28, was found dead Sept. 22 in the first block of South Peach Street in Easton.

DeLapara and Stratford met up the afternoon of Sept. 22 to borrow Joseph Knox's pickup truck, which he lent in exchange for drugs, court records say. Knox told police it was the first time Stratford had used his dark green Dodge.

Stratford drove to a Newark White Castle to purchase six bricks of heroin from a dealer, a man by the street name of Durrell "Slugger" Carter told Easton police.

Stratford twice visited a trailer home on Freemansburg Avenue in Bethlehem Township, Pa., that day, records say; once to deliver several small bags of heroin and again about 8 p.m., with a man -- later identified as DeLapara -- to collect money, records say. The two people who lived there and previously bought from Stratford, whom they knew as "Money," records say.

South Peach Street neighbors previously reported hearing gun shots or fireworks that night.

Police were called before midnight and

.

'Fingerprints all over'

Kelly Craven was detained after a raid this morning at 315 Palmer St. in Easton.

A few days after the shooting, Craven told police she'd spoken with her DeLapara, her boyfriend.

"My fingerprints are all over Money's clothes and all over the vehicle that she was killed in," Craven reported DeLapara saying, according to court records.

After searching Stratford's cellphone and speaking with witnesses, police questioned DeLapara in the homicide.

He denied knowing Stratford until seeing a photo, at which point he identified her as "Skittles" but denied having been in the Dodge pickup.

It was after officers raided DeLapara and Craven's Palmer Street home this morning that police learned of a possible motive.

While in custody after the raid, records say, Craven relayed back DeLapara's response to her questioning on why he killed Stratford: He'd overheard Stratford was plotting to rob him and he decided to rob her first.

'He is our shooter'

Of DeLapara, Easton police Lt. Matt Gerould said: "He is our shooter."

Police detained DeLapara after the morning's raid turned up 204 packages of heroin, about 12 grams of cocaine and 34 packets of marijuana.

While in custody, DeLapara told police he shot Stratford several times, ran from the truck and disposed of the gun, court records say.

Handcuffed, clad in a purple sweatshirt, grey sweatpants and sneakers, DeLapara spoke little during his hearing this afternoon, other than to say, "Yes, sir." He was arraigned on one charge of criminal homicide felony in the first degree.

District Judge Richard Yetter sent DeLapara to Northampton County Prison without bail because bail is not granted in homicide cases. DeLapara said he had no adult criminal record.

DeLapara, according to court records, worked briefly at Crayola in Easton. Crayola officials helped police identify DeLapara after police tracked him down through Stratford's cellphone and social media, court records say.

Eric Zebley, a spokesman with Crayola, said this afternoon that DeLapara was an employee of a third-party company that provided janitorial services for Crayola. Zebley said he only worked for the third-party company for about a month and a half. He said Crayola fully cooperated with police in its investigation.

DeLapara's preliminary arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Nov. 1.

Reporters Sara K. Satullo and Thomas Shortell contributed to this report.

