Murder suspect turns himself in after man fatally shot near Saint Joseph's University, DA's office
LOWER MERION, Pa. (CBS) -- The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and Lower Merion Township police said Tyreese Quinerley, a man accused of killing another man near Saint Joseph's University in Lower Merion Township is now in custody.
The DA's Office said Quinerley, 39, turned himself in to Lower Merion police and Montgomery County detectives just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. He's set to be arraigned on first-degree and third-degree murder, person not to possess a firearm and possessing an instrument in crime charges in connection with the murder of Jefferson Shackford, from Sunday.
The DA's office issued a warrant for Quinerley's arrest Tuesday morning. The homicide happened just before 11 p.m. on Sunday, April 14.
According to a criminal complaint filed on Monday, April 15, when police arrived on the scene at Cardinal and City avenues, Quinerley told officers that he almost hit Shackford with his car and had stopped to help him. After identifying Quinerley, officers allowed him to leave the scene, court documents said.
As EMTs prepared to take Shackford to the hospital, they found that he was suffering from two gunshot wounds. Shackford was taken to Lankenau Medical Center and pronounced dead.
During their investigation, Lower Merion Township Police and Montgomery County detectives viewed surveillance video and spoke with two witnesses. They learned that Quinerley was driving his green Chevrolet Express van erratically and speeding on City Avenue when he stopped for a red light just before 10:45 p.m.
According to the criminal complaint, the two witnesses were in a car traveling in the same direction as Quinerley and stopped about two cars behind him at the light. They both told investigators that they saw the driver, described as a man wearing a gray colored sweat suit, get out of the car, walk into the center of the road and fire two shots into his van.
Body cameras worn by the responding Lower Merion officers that met with Quinerley at the scene substantiated the description given by the two witnesses, the complaint said.
Surveillance video from the area also showed that the driver was wearing "light-colored clothing," the court documents said. According to the complaint, the video also showed the driver, later identified as Quinerley, dragging Shackford's body out of the van and placing him on the sidewalk.
As part of their investigation, detectives returned to the scene on Monday, April 15 and found a cellphone about 30 feet from where Shackford's body was initially located. According to the DA's office, they determined that it belonged to Quinerley.
Call records showed that another cellphone recovered on Shackford's body the night of his death had communicated multiple times on Saturday with Quinerley's cellphone, the DA's office said. Quinerley's phone records also showed that just after he called 911, he was talking with a woman, who was interviewed by detectives, according to authorities.
She confirmed she was talking with Quinerley while the police were on scene, and that Quinerley and Shackford knew each other from "the neighborhood," the complaint said.
Additionally, the 911 phone call recording was obtained and in it, Quinerley referred to the victim as "Creek" multiple times as if he knew him, the DA's office said. Shackford went by the name "Creek" and had a tattoo of "King Creek" on his stomach.