The mother’s ex-boyfriend fatally shot a 30-year-old St. Louis mother and her two young daughters.
According to the New York Post, Ronald Marr, 34, fled on a Greyhound bus and was captured by authorities 100 miles away in Effingham, Illinois, hours after killing the mother and her 7-year-old and 1-year-old daughters.
Cops were called to the woman’s St. Louis home, where they found a “very gruesome scene,” Police Chief John Hayden reported.
“There’s a lot of disturbing evidence inside,” Hayden said. “It’s traumatizing to the officers that went in.”
Authorities have yet released the victims’ identities, but relatives told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Marr was the ex-boyfriend of Kanisha Hemphill, the mother killed in the attack.
A witness heard the gunshots before seeing Marr running from the scene. The witness later identified him in a photo lineup.
Authorities say Marr got rid of his cellphone after killing the three females and purchased a new one before getting on a Greyhound bus and leaving town. His motive for the triple slaying is not yet known.
The victim’s brother, Jermaine Walker, said his sister had ongoing domestic issues with Marr.
“I didn’t really care for him,” Walker told the Post-Dispatch. “They had a few instances, and I always told my sister, leave the guy alone. But she ended up having a baby by him.”
“The death penalty would be too easy for him,” he continued. “He should have ate a bullet right after that.”
Marr will remain in custody until he is extradited to St. Louis.
