Post by Scumhunter on Jan 18, 2014 21:09:50 GMT -5
I realize as this has evolved from an AMW-oriented to a more overall-crime based forum, we have posted many cases of relatively recent Non-AMW fugitive or Non-AMW missing child cases, but don't have many in the Non-AMW unknown murder category. The following is an article about a gruesome crime I wanted to bring attention to. Detroit, as we all know, has had its' struggles with crime, but even with that, this murder was downright brutal:
DETROIT (AP) - Mel Koester made a vow when his son was gunned down in Detroit.
"I will not set foot in that city again (until) I get some justice for him," he said.
Justice has not yet been served in Jason Koester's slaying.
He and three others were shot in the head execution-style at a modest home on Detroit's east side on Dec. 4, 2012. The homicide detective who drew the case told Mel Koester as recently as late September that she still was working to find his son's killer.
But the reality is that the four young lives that were taken on Tacoma Street that night represent 1 percent of the 386 criminal homicides in Detroit last year, and there have been another 300-plus killings so far this year - staggering figures staring in the face of an already undermanned police force working in a city seeking federal bankruptcy protection.
It is of little consolation to the bereaved.
"We don't know why it happened," said Juneita Davis, whose 34-year-old brother, Dyrelle, was one of the Tacoma Four. "Someone is walking out there on the street with no consequences."
The case "remains unsolved," said Wayne County prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller, who added that Detroit police have not provided her office with any paperwork related to the investigation.
The Associated Press left repeated messages asking the police for an update on the status of the investigation, but no information was provided.
Often criticized for its low closure rate on murders, Detroit police cleared 42 percent of its criminal homicides in 2012, Sgt. Michael Woody said.
So far this year, the clearance rate is 51 percent, he said.
Nationally, the clearance rate was 62.5 percent for agencies reporting to the FBI in 2012.
Investigative reports obtained by the AP via a Freedom of Information Act request detail the grisly discovery made by police on Dec. 4, as well as an early success in the case.
A partially redacted report shows that officers, acting on a tip, sought a person who "had made several verbal statements of complicity" in the killings.
The suspect, described as a student, was taken into custody after officers consulted with the principal and had the person brought to the front office.
The reports make no other reference to the suspect.
They do, however, describe the bloody aftermath of the violence at 15310 Tacoma, a white, ranch-style corner home that sits in view of a school and a recreation center.
It was owned at the time by the family of Janetta Harris, a 22-year-old whose aunt, Chris Funches, described her as an "angel" known to family members as "Netta Boo."
Harris, who baby-sat for children in the neighborhood, lived at the house with Dyrelle Davis, her boyfriend.
Jason Koester, 28, also lived there. He was friends with Davis, as was Shawn Bender, a 16-year-old who Funches said was like a little brother to Davis and who helped him wash cars at a nearby business.
Harris recently had earned a child-care certification, and Davis had dreams of pursuing a career as a musician. Koester was working toward being a manager at a suburban Detroit eatery.
Juneita Davis spoke to her brother the day before to finalize plans to meet for their annual dinner to commemorate the day their father died - Dec. 4.
Dyrelle's ex-girlfriend called Juneita early in the morning and asked her to switch on the TV news.
Instead of meeting her brother at a restaurant, she went to see him at the morgue.
Officers who arrived that night at the home found two victims lying in beds, one on the floor and another sitting up inside a closet. There was "blood throughout the location," one of the responding officers wrote in a report.
Fate brought the victims together at that home, and now it has done the same with those they left behind.
A month after the killing, someone representing each of the four appeared at a Crime Stoppers news conference to announce that a cash reward was being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.
In the time since, family members have reached out to each other sporadically - once getting together to pass out fliers in the neighborhood.
"We're like family. They took something from all of us," Funches said. "The way I feel about Janetta, they feel about their family member."
Someone set fire to the home not long after the killings, and it now sits abandoned and boarded up like thousands of other houses in the financially troubled city. Spray paint that covers much of the front exterior contains messages to the victims, including "Love U 4Ever," ''Your Kids Miss You" and "1204."
Funches visited the home a few weeks ago on what would have been her niece's 23rd birthday. She set down a balloon that promptly flew away.
Mel Koester, who lives in suburban Macomb County, can't bring himself to visit.
"I was there at his birth when Jason took his first breath," he said. "I cannot bring myself to go to the place where he took his last."
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $3,500 for tips leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/12/justice_elusive_for_4_killed_i.html
detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/02/reward-offered-in-quadruple-murder/
www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/24116146/detroit-police-restart-probe-of-tacoma-four-murders-citing-mismanagement
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updated information on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
DETROIT (AP) - Mel Koester made a vow when his son was gunned down in Detroit.
"I will not set foot in that city again (until) I get some justice for him," he said.
Justice has not yet been served in Jason Koester's slaying.
He and three others were shot in the head execution-style at a modest home on Detroit's east side on Dec. 4, 2012. The homicide detective who drew the case told Mel Koester as recently as late September that she still was working to find his son's killer.
But the reality is that the four young lives that were taken on Tacoma Street that night represent 1 percent of the 386 criminal homicides in Detroit last year, and there have been another 300-plus killings so far this year - staggering figures staring in the face of an already undermanned police force working in a city seeking federal bankruptcy protection.
It is of little consolation to the bereaved.
"We don't know why it happened," said Juneita Davis, whose 34-year-old brother, Dyrelle, was one of the Tacoma Four. "Someone is walking out there on the street with no consequences."
The case "remains unsolved," said Wayne County prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller, who added that Detroit police have not provided her office with any paperwork related to the investigation.
The Associated Press left repeated messages asking the police for an update on the status of the investigation, but no information was provided.
Often criticized for its low closure rate on murders, Detroit police cleared 42 percent of its criminal homicides in 2012, Sgt. Michael Woody said.
So far this year, the clearance rate is 51 percent, he said.
Nationally, the clearance rate was 62.5 percent for agencies reporting to the FBI in 2012.
Investigative reports obtained by the AP via a Freedom of Information Act request detail the grisly discovery made by police on Dec. 4, as well as an early success in the case.
A partially redacted report shows that officers, acting on a tip, sought a person who "had made several verbal statements of complicity" in the killings.
The suspect, described as a student, was taken into custody after officers consulted with the principal and had the person brought to the front office.
The reports make no other reference to the suspect.
They do, however, describe the bloody aftermath of the violence at 15310 Tacoma, a white, ranch-style corner home that sits in view of a school and a recreation center.
It was owned at the time by the family of Janetta Harris, a 22-year-old whose aunt, Chris Funches, described her as an "angel" known to family members as "Netta Boo."
Harris, who baby-sat for children in the neighborhood, lived at the house with Dyrelle Davis, her boyfriend.
Jason Koester, 28, also lived there. He was friends with Davis, as was Shawn Bender, a 16-year-old who Funches said was like a little brother to Davis and who helped him wash cars at a nearby business.
Harris recently had earned a child-care certification, and Davis had dreams of pursuing a career as a musician. Koester was working toward being a manager at a suburban Detroit eatery.
Juneita Davis spoke to her brother the day before to finalize plans to meet for their annual dinner to commemorate the day their father died - Dec. 4.
Dyrelle's ex-girlfriend called Juneita early in the morning and asked her to switch on the TV news.
Instead of meeting her brother at a restaurant, she went to see him at the morgue.
Officers who arrived that night at the home found two victims lying in beds, one on the floor and another sitting up inside a closet. There was "blood throughout the location," one of the responding officers wrote in a report.
Fate brought the victims together at that home, and now it has done the same with those they left behind.
A month after the killing, someone representing each of the four appeared at a Crime Stoppers news conference to announce that a cash reward was being offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.
In the time since, family members have reached out to each other sporadically - once getting together to pass out fliers in the neighborhood.
"We're like family. They took something from all of us," Funches said. "The way I feel about Janetta, they feel about their family member."
Someone set fire to the home not long after the killings, and it now sits abandoned and boarded up like thousands of other houses in the financially troubled city. Spray paint that covers much of the front exterior contains messages to the victims, including "Love U 4Ever," ''Your Kids Miss You" and "1204."
Funches visited the home a few weeks ago on what would have been her niece's 23rd birthday. She set down a balloon that promptly flew away.
Mel Koester, who lives in suburban Macomb County, can't bring himself to visit.
"I was there at his birth when Jason took his first breath," he said. "I cannot bring myself to go to the place where he took his last."
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $3,500 for tips leading to an arrest in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/12/justice_elusive_for_4_killed_i.html
detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/02/reward-offered-in-quadruple-murder/
www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/24116146/detroit-police-restart-probe-of-tacoma-four-murders-citing-mismanagement
Admin Note: If you have any news-related updated information on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
