23-year-old sought in deaths of her 3 roommates caught after high-speed chase, authorities say
A 23-year-old Virginia woman wanted in the deaths of her three roommates, all in their 60s or 70s, was captured in upstate New York after a chase that reached 100 mph at times, authorities say.
The sheriff's office in Spotsylvania County, in northeast Virginia, says deputies went to a home in Fredericksburg Tuesday night for a welfare check and found two men and a woman dead with upper body trauma.
Investigators determined that the suspect was the victims' roommate, Alyssa Jane Venable, the office said.
She was wanted on three counts of second-degree murder and a firearms charge.
According to the sheriff's office, New York State Police troopers in Steuben County spotted a gray 2009 Honda Civic Thursday evening that matched the description of the car Venable was known to drive and tried to pull it over. But, the office said, "The driver refused to stop and a pursuit was initiated with speeds reaching 100 mph."
At one point, the office continued, a tire deflation device was used and that caused the Civic to crash.
Venable was taken into custody without further incident and brought to a hospital as a precaution.
No members of the public or law enforcement were injured, and Venable's extradition to Virginia was being set up, the sheriff's office said.
It identified the victims as Robert John McGuire, 77; Gregory Scott Powell, 60; and Carol Anne Reese, 65.
An office spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for additional information on Venable and how she came to live with the victims
Court records show that Venable was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery in May. The public defender's office in Fredericksburg, which is listed as her attorney in that case, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.