Nov 8, 2009 6:15 pm US/Central
3 Women Shot To Death As They Sat In Car With Kids
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) ―
Three women were shot to death at an East St. Louis gas station as they sat in a car with two children, police said.
Neither of the children, ages 1 and 8, were injured in the shooting Saturday evening, said East St. Louis Police detective Ken Berry. One suspect was in custody but had not yet been charged Sunday, and the shooter was still at large.
Illinois State Police believe the suspect fled in a white 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis with an Illinois license plate of X101862.
The women were sitting in a car at Crown Food Market about 9:30 p.m. Saturday when a shooter approached and opened fire, police said. He then fled.
The victims have been identified as Canikia Harvey, 26, Raykel Gathing, 26, Jaimaca McDaniel, 24, all of East St. Louis, according to St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone.
An employee who answered the phone at the gas station Sunday said the three women were regulars and never seemed to be involved in any trouble.
Flowers have been placed at the gas pump where the women's car was parked, he said, and no one was using the pump.
Willie Holmes, McDaniel's father, said she has three sons. He said the three victims were all good friends.
A relative of Gathings, Chamethele McKinney, said the shooter should be harshly punished.
"There were kids in that car," she said. "He showed no remorse."
Police have not determined a motive for the shooting. Illinois State Police are assisting in the investigation.
The killings bring the number of homicides in East St. Louis this year to 27. There were 19 in 2008.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)