Suspect In Custody In Harvey Triple Murder
UPDATED 10/25/10 6:07 p.m.
HARVEY, Ill. (CBS/WBBM) - A suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the triple murder of a 28-year-old woman, her 9-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old boy, who were all shot to death Sunday night at a home in Harvey. A 4-year-old boy was also wounded, but survived.
Harvey city spokeswoman Sandra Alvarado said an anonymous tip from someone in the community led to the apprehension of a suspect they believe is responsible for the shootings.
Police responded around 10 p.m. on Sunday to a call of a gunshot victim in a second-floor apartment in the 300 block of West 151st Place in the southern suburb, police said.
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Responding officers found a 28-year-old woman, her 9-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, and a 16-year-old boy, all lying wounded from gunshots.
The woman was identified as Donysha Stovall, and her daughter as Clarisma Torrey, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. They were both taken to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, where they were pronounced dead.
Stovall was shot in the chest and found on the sofa, neighbors who saw her said.
The teenage boy was identifed as Shaquille Davis, according to the medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
Davis was released from the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center two weeks ago, according to relatives. He is a known gang member who was involved in a "very violent" domestic dispute that got him locked up, according to Harvey Acting Police Chief Denard Eaves. Relatives said he stabbed his older stepbrother earlier this year.
The 4-year-old boy, Nathaniel, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where his condition was reported as stable.
Harvey Police say Stovall's boyfriend, who is the father of Shaquille and Nathaniel, is being questioned by the police and was earlier named as a person of interest, but he is not the man who is in custody as a suspect.
Chief Eaves says this is one of the worst crimes he has ever seen in the city of Harvey.
"We currently have a person in custody, a person of interest," said Eaves. "And the Cook County State's Attorney's office is working with us, hand in hand, to try and bring charges."
Neighbor Grrod Walker says the boyfriend heard the shots and found his family.
"We didn't really know it was gunshots until he came home and saw the family," said Walker. "And then he came back and asked me to call the police."
Walker held Nathaniel after the little boy was shot.
"The 4-year-old, the father brought him out," said Walker. "From what I saw, he gave him to me, he had three gunshot wounds that I saw."
The father says he was across the street at the time of the shootings.
"That's something that investigators are talking to the father, as we speak, hoping to ascertain as much information as possible to bring closure to this case," said Alvarado.
Harvey police said the gunman knew the family, and there was no forced entry.
"Investigators believe that the suspect is not a stranger to the family," said Alvarado. "They believe that he or she did know the family because there was no forced entry into the home."
Walker says he chose not to look as the three who died were brought out of their apartment. Instead, on Monday, he chose to pay tribute to them, including mother Donysha Stovall.
"Donysha was a beautiful woman, salt of the earth. She was a sweet, loving mother," said Walker.
"Little kids… so many kids are getting killed nowadays," said neighbor Ronnie Leyvey.
Harvey Police are also looking into the possibility that the murders may be drug- or gang-related because drugs were found in the apartment and the 16-year-old victim was a known gang member.
"We're not letting anything go," said Eaves. "We're going to follow up on every lead that we possibly can to solve it."
Police plan to charge the boyfriend in connection with the drugs found.
"Also, inside the house, there were a quantity of drugs found. And we are currently seeking charges against the boyfriend," said Eaves. "We will get to the bottom of this."
But the boyfriend's family said there were no drugs in the home.
"There were no drugs in there, where his children were," said Tony Stewart, the boyfriend's cousin. "He was watching the game. He ran in there and found his kids shot."
Stewart also says the family's TV was taken.
Stovall's father, Dyland Weather, said 4-year-old Nathaniel suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
"He's surviving from anywhere from six to seven gunshot wounds to his body," said Weather. "He's stable right now."
He said his daughter worked for Chase bank and was taking classes at Columbia College. Weather said he's offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the killer's conviction.
"No one deserves to have to be shot the way they were, under no circumstances," said Weather. "I don't care what it was about."
Alvarado says police are still talking to Stovall's boyfriend about the case.
"They still are talking with him and hope to connect all the dots in this puzzle," she said. "And hopefully they will charge somebody in the immediate future."
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli and Mai Martinez, Newsradio 780's Bernie Tafoya and the Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
