Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 18, 1994 TAG: 9411180101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Goins, 20, and his girlfriend, Monique Michelle Littlejohn, were sleeping in a Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment when they were surprised by a SWAT team that engineered a predawn raid. Both were taken into custody without a struggle.
The two were to be arraigned today in Manhattan Criminal Court, said Barbara Thompson of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Goins is charged with the Oct. 14 slayings of three children and two adults in Gilpin Court, a Richmond public housing complex. Daphne Jones, 29, and three of her children - Nicole, 9; David, 4; and Robert, 3, were killed.
Jones' two other children - Tamika, 14, and Kenya, 18 months - were wounded. Tamika Jones was pregnant and lost her fetus. She and Kenya Jones have been in protective custody.
James N. Randolph Jr., 35, described by neighbors as Daphne Jones' boyfriend and the father of her two oldest children, also was killed.
Littlejohn has been charged with prescription forgery and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. FBI Special Agent Armando Palmieri said authorities do not believe she was connected with the slayings.
Daphne Jones' mother, Jean Jones, said she was relieved by Goins' arrest.
``I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders,'' she said. ``We still have a long way to go. But I believe myself and my family can rest a little easier. This has been a month of hell, and now I can get back to being a grandmother to my living grandchildren.''
Federal officials narrowed a nationwide search involving more than 100 detectives to New York as a result of leads Richmond police received from Goins' acquaintances, FBI spokesman Stanley Klein said at a news conference Thursday. Goins had told several people his father had died recently in New York.
At 6 a.m., a SWAT team converged on an apartment at 1003 Willmohr St. in the Flatbush section and found Goins and Littlejohn asleep inside, said William Gavin, deputy assistant director of the FBI office in Manhattan.
``He killed five people,'' Gavin said when asked about use of the SWAT team. ``We didn't want to take any chances.''
Authorities believe Goins, who has shaved his head and all his facial hair since the shooting, had been in New York most of the time since he became a fugitive.
Young, who became the mayor of Virginia's most murder-riddled city this year, called the apprehension of Goins the end of a nightmare for Richmond.
``This was the worst single crime in our city's history,'' Young said. ``I am calling for no less than the full measure of justice.''
Jean Jones, however, said she did not want to see Goins receive the death penalty if he is convicted of the crimes.
``I don't know why I feel this way, because I know he killed my family,'' she said. ``I guess because I just believe in God.''
Neighbors of Jean Jones were happy to see Goins in custody but were not as forgiving.
``They should take him straight to the chair,'' said George Hawkins Sr., who lives in a nearby apartment complex and first met Jean Jones about 22 years ago. ``I know it was a hell of a blow to her to see her family executed that way, just shot down like dogs.''
Authorities would not discuss a possible motive for the shootings, but relatives said Goins had been Tamika's boyfriend and had fathered the baby she was carrying.
Jean Jones said she had argued with Goins about whether he was the father of Tamika's baby shortly before the shootings. She said her grandchildren loved Goins and called him ``Uncle.''
``I just want to know why. I don't understand how he could do something like this. They trusted him. We all trusted him.''
by CNB