Worker Charged With Bus-Stop Murder of Supervisor Last Month in North Philadelphia
By Steve Tawa and Tim Jimenez
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police say there has been an arrest in the cold-blooded shooting death of a woman killed while waiting for a SEPTA bus last month on a North Philadelphia street corner.
Authorities say the killer worked with the victim at a Philadelphia social service agency. The break in the case reportedly came when investigators realized that co-worker drove the same type of car as the suspect and had the same distinctive sticker on the back.
Randolph Sanders, 36, is in police custody. Authorities say he is charged with the murder of Kim Jones, 56.
They were co-workers at the nonprofit agency "Turning Points for Children," according to officials with the nonprofit organization. Sanders had been there for more than two years. Officals say he was the assistant director of a program for which Jones was the director.
Police say Sanders confessed to killing Jones.
On the morning of January 13th, Jones was shot in the head while waiting for a bus at 12th and Jefferson Streets. After the shooting, police released surveillance video of the suspect stalking Jones and then calmly walking away, leaving the area on a subway.
Investigators say Jones suspected Sanders was stealing money from the child advocacy organization where they worked and, fearing Jones would report him, followed her to a bus stop on January 13th and shot her in the back of the head.
Philadelphia Police homicide unit captain James Clark says hundreds of hours of additional video, plus relentless detective work brought them to 36-year-old Randolph Sanders. He drove the same type of vehicle as the killer: a 2007 silver Yukon, with a distinctive sticker on the rear of the car.
Clark says Sanders was brought in for questioning and confessed to the murder over the weekend.
"In short, it was just great detective work," he added.
Clark says Sanders, an assistant director of a social service program run by the victim, feared his boss was about to expose him for taking money from work.
"He worked for her for two years. He was actually stealing from her nonprofit organization," Clark said today. "Kim Jones found out about that and, on the morning of her murder, she was going to report him to DHS (the city's Department of Human Services), which funds this organization."
Clark says it's an ongoing investigation that will go to the district attorney's office, but it's estimated that Sanders allegedly stole about $40,000.