Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Suspect arrested after 3 women shot to death in car with kids inside

EAST ST. LOUIS -- Investigators on Sunday captured a man they believe opened fire on a car parked at a gas station, killing three women, including an acquaintance of the suspect, state investigators said.

Children inside the bullet-riddled vehicle escaped harm.

All the wounded in Saturday night's shooting outside the Crown Food Mart were shot several times, mostly in the torso, and died later at Kenneth Hall Regional Hospital in East St. Louis, Illinois State Police Lt. James Morrisey said. At least one victim was an acquaintance of the gunman, though the precise relationship was not clear, Morrisey said.

Police in St. Louis arrested the suspect Sunday night at an apartment after an intensive search for the white, four-door 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis he supposedly drove to and from the shooting, Morrisey said. The suspect's relatives assisted in the manhunt, Morrisey said.

The suspect's name was not released because charges had not been filed, and police believe he acted alone, Morrisey said.

Police accounts conflicted Sunday night about how many children were in the car at the time. Morrisey said the children numbered three, one more than East St. Louis police had reported earlier.

Their ages and relationships to the slain women -- Tenikia Harvey, 27, Raykel Gathing, 26, Jaimaca McDaniel, 24, all of East St. Louis -- were not readily available.

"It's a bad enough tragedy as it is, but I think it's very fortunate none of the children were struck," Morrisey said.

Morrisey said the women and children were sitting in a car about 9:30 p.m. Saturday near a gas pump at the Crown Food Mart when the suspect drove up, exchanged words briefly with at least one of the women and began firing with a handgun. The shooter then sped away, Morrisey said.

An employee who answered the phone at the gas station Sunday said the three women were regulars and never seemed to be involved in any trouble.

By Sunday night, the gas pump where the women were gunned down was a makeshift memorial, adorned with flowers. No one was using the pump, the worker said.

McDaniel's father, Willie Holmes, said the slain women were good friends and that his daughter had three sons. It was not clear whether those boys were the children in the car.

Holmes said he saw his daughter a couple of days before the shooting and she was in a good mood.

Chamethele McKinney, who is a relative of Gathing, wants the gunman to pay dearly for the shootings.

"There were kids in that car," she said. "He showed no remorse."

The killings bring the number of homicides in East St. Louis this year to 27. There were 19 in 2008.

McKinney said she is tired of all the homicides in East St. Louis.

"That's why we moved. City officials have got to get a handle on what's going on," she said, adding that kids have got to have a place to go for recreation.

Police have not established a motive for the shooting.

Police are also asking anyone with information about the murders to call East St. Louis police at 274-6868, Illinois State Police at 346-3766 or Crime Stoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477).