Young Pregnant Woman Shot Dead In Motel Room
DENVER (CBS4) – Police are investigating the murder of a young woman who was shot to death inside her Denver motel room.
Family members identified the victim as Quinasia Russell, 23. Those close to Russell knew her as "Nay-Nay."
A Denver Police spokesperson said that officers heard gunfire at approximately 2:45 a.m. Saturday and responded to the Airway Motel on Colfax Avenue and Verbena Street.
Russell was pronounced dead inside motel room number 8.
Friends and family members learning of their loved one's violent death embraced outside of the motel.
"I don't know who shot her or why," said Russell's Aunt Mae.
"But whoever did it, please turn yourself in," Mae pleaded.
Mae said Russell was well-loved and outgoing, and also said her family believes that she had a child on the way.
"I'm devastated right now," Mae added.
Crime scene technicians snapped photos and collected evidence at the scene.
Detectives were working with motel management to try to obtain surveillance video from the many cameras outside the motel.
"No one wants this to happen," said Sonny Jackson, Public Information Officer with the Denver Police Department. "So I think we're going to get cooperation from everybody in the area. At this point in time, we have one dead female.
"I think people are going to care. They're going to try to help any way they can. And we're going to ask for the community to help. If you have any information about what happened here or anybody's talking about it, please let us know."
Russell's cousin Debra said that the deadly violence needed to stop.
"These people need to stop running around here taking others' lives," Debra said.
"It's sad, and we need to do better. We need to do better as a community. If we're fighting for justice for our race, then we need to fight for justice for one another."
Police were actively investigating the homicide. Detectives were following up on various suspect leads, but could not release any suspect information.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Quinasia Russell.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
