The surviving son of a woman brutally murdered along with her other two children and a female partner in upstate New York fears he could also be targeted by the killer.
“I’m scared to go to the corner store,” 15-year-old Isaiah Smith told Times Union reporters Thursday, Dec. 28. “I’m not sure if they’re coming for me next.”
Family of Shanta Myers and her children speak, urging those with information on #Troy homicide to come forward. pic.twitter.com/EvVTDbaW59
— Amanda Fries (@mandy_fries) December 28, 2017
New York police earlier identified the two women and two children who were gruesomely murdered in the basement apartment in Troy, New York, just north of Albany, reported The Epoch Times.
The Troy Police Department identified the victims as Shanta Myers, 36, her two children, Jeremiah, 11, and Shanise, 5, and Brandi Mells, 22. According to the police, Mells and Myers were in a “relationship.”
Little information has been released about the details of the murder, but Police Chief John Tedesco told AP that he has “never seen savagery like this” in 43 years of law enforcement.
Brandi Mells (Troy Police Department)“After being in this business for 43 years, I can’t describe the savagery of a person who would do this,” Tedesco told Fox News. “It was the number of people killed, the manner in which they were killed,” Tedesco said. “And the children being involved.”
No suspect has yet been named and police are asking the public for help as the investigation continues.
According to the New York Times, the manager of the property received a call from the victims’ relatives asking to do a welfare check on the family.
Shanise Myers (Troy Police Department)The victim’s bodies were found on the day after Christmas, but the police chief hopes an autopsy will help clear up the timing.
Tedesco told Fox News that “certain factors were uncovered during the investigation” that may mean the killings were targeted.
Jeremiah Myers (Troy Police Department)Shakera Symes, Shanta Myers’ sister, told Spectrum News the murders have left her entire family traumatized.
“Give the information to the authorities so that they can help find the person who has destroyed us, emotionally, mentally,” Symes said. “It feels like somebody has ripped us to shreds.”
Symes also said she would raise Myer’s son, Isaiah Smith, in the wake of the horrific murders.
Shanta Myers (Troy Police Department)Family members expressed their grief to reporters at Troy’s Boys & Girls Club, Fox reported.
“We are shocked and deeply saddened by this tragedy,” reads a statement on a GoFundMe page set up by a representative of the Club.
“It will be deeply felt by all his friends at the Club and throughout the community.”
The locals in Troy, a city of 50,000 seven miles from the state capital of Albany, were shocked to learn about the murders. Before the murders discovered on Tuesday, there were only two homicides in Troy all year. The annual average is six murders, Tedesco said, according to New York Times.
“For someone to do this to two children is horrific,” Mark McGrath, a city council member, told Fox News. “I can’t even explain how people feel up here. We’ve had homicides here in the past, as all communities do, but children—it really, really has affected this community.”
Members of the public can also submit anonymous tips to the #TroyNY Police by visiting https://t.co/zvc5QkMoNI or dialing 1-(833)-ALB-TIPS pic.twitter.com/Fop7k2jGNB
— Patrick Madden (@MayorMadden) December 27, 2017
The city’s mayor praised police and reached out on Twitter to comfort residents.
“Troy is a strong, resilient city that always comes together to support our neighbors & friends impacted by tragic incidents like this,” Madden wrote on Twitter. “The thoughts of our entire community remain with the victims’ families during this incredibly difficult time.”
Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.
