Nearly two years after Nicole Vega was found shot to death inside her Dunmore home, the man accused of killing her sat in a Lackawanna County courtroom this week and watched body-camera video from the night she died. Maxwell Hawkins is on trial for allegedly killing Vega, his wife, and prosecutors used the opening days of proceedings to walk jurors through the scene officers encountered when they arrived at the Veterans Drive residence in January 2025.
According to WNEP, Deputy District Attorney Sara Varela has argued that Hawkins intended to kill Vega after learning she was having an affair, and she called several witnesses as the prosecution built its case. The outlet reports the prosecution is expected to rest its case later this week. Body-camera footage shown in court appeared to show Hawkins was very intoxicated at the scene, and he was seen falling over and unsteady on his feet, per the station's account.
Dunmore police officers said Hawkins repeatedly slurred his words and had to be asked to repeat himself several times, the station reported, while an investigator said Hawkins was wailing when police first arrived. Those details echo the early days of the case: Vega, 36, died from a single gunshot wound to the head at the home, according to wvia.org.
What Police Found That Night
Officers who entered the residence found Hawkins intoxicated and acting erratically, and they discovered Vega in a puddle of blood near a loaded handgun, according to thetimes-tribune.com. That same report states Hawkins told police his wife had cheated on him. Three children were in the home when the alleged crime occurred, and Hawkins was initially charged with endangering their welfare, with investigators alleging he had left a loaded handgun within the children's reach, per the Times-Tribune's reporting.
Lackawanna County Coroner Timothy Rowland has said an autopsy determined Vega died after being shot in the back of the head, and the coroner previously classified her death as a homicide caused by a single gunshot wound to the head, according to yahoo.com. In a police interview on Jan. 10, 2025, investigators told Hawkins they believed he had murdered his wife, the same report states.
Defense Challenges the Coroner's Findings
Hawkins's defense attorney, Bernie Brown, has questioned the accuracy of Vega's death certificate during the trial, and he has also raised questions about whether Hawkins was intoxicated by alcohol or drugs on the night Vega died, according to WNEP's courtroom reporting. Hawkins was initially charged with child endangerment and public drunkenness before homicide charges followed; he has since been charged with first-degree murder in addition to the child endangerment count.
Magisterial District Judge Sean McGraw ruled in September that sufficient evidence supported the case against Hawkins, sending it to Lackawanna County Court, per the Times-Tribune. Reporting on that ruling listed Hawkins's age as 38, while earlier coverage of his arrest listed him as 37, and the dossier of court reporting reviewed for this story does not resolve the discrepancy. A separate report from the Times-Tribune noted that Hawkins remained in Lackawanna County Prison without bail in the days following his arrest.
Case Heads Toward Its Next Phase
With the prosecution expected to rest later this week, the trial is set to continue in Lackawanna County Court as jurors weigh testimony from investigators, the coroner, and the body-camera footage shown from the scene. The case has drawn on accounts from Dunmore police and the county coroner's office, as well as courtroom proceedings in which Varela called witnesses and Brown questioned the death certificate and Hawkins's intoxication as each side presents its version of what happened inside the Veterans Drive home.
