Families of Fairmont Terrace shooting victims ask, 'Why'

BY AMANDA BLAND & KENDRICK MARSHALL World Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
1/10/13 at 3:23 PM

One of the last things Kayetie Powell Melchor told her mother was that she wouldn't leave her twin sister, Rebeika Powell, alone in a dangerous place.

Quadruple homicide shooting victims


Rebeika Powell, 23	Kayetie Powell Melchor, 23


Misty Nunley, 33	Julie Jackson, 55

Melchor and Powell, both 23, and two other women - Misty Nunley, 33, and Julie Jackson, 55 - were found fatally shot inside Powell's apartment at the Fairmont Terrace apartment complex, 1111 E. 60th St., on Monday. Powell's 3-year-old son was found uninjured in the residence.

One of the twins' friends called their mother, Charon Powell, on Monday afternoon to tell her that her daughters had been shot.

"They were good girls (and) couldn't have had anything that anybody would have wanted," Charon Powell told the Tulsa World on Tuesday, speaking of robbery as a possible motive. Rebeika Powell "didn't have much property or money," she said.

The mother had agreed to pay for the twins, who were not working at the time, to move into a new apartment because they were concerned for their safety where they were living. She received a call last week that the apartment they'd been looking at was ready to rent.

"I knew they weren't safe (at Fairmont Terrace). Kayetie was scared there," Charon Powell said.

"She said, 'Mom, I can't leave Rebeika over there, because if Rebeika dies, I want to die with her.' (Kayetie) thought if something happened to Rebeika she could save her."

Charon Powell has been struggling to understand how and why her daughters and their friends were slain.

"The way they died is really hard for me to grab hold of," she said.

The twins graduated from Kellyville High School in 2008.

Melchor was an aspiring model and certified medical assistant. She was the mother of a 5-year-old girl.

Rebeika Powell was a giving person who would do anything for anybody, her mother said.

"There really wasn't a bad bone in their bodies," Charon Powell said.

She pleaded with anybody who knows or might know anything that could be connected to the homicides to take advantage of the anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line, which is operated by the Crime Prevention Network.

"They need to do it for somebody else's family," she said, asserting her belief that anybody who could kill her daughters is capable of killing anyone.

"It could happen to them," she said.

Jackson, the oldest of the victims, was recently in Okmulgee for the funeral of her father, who died Friday after having a stroke just before Christmas, said her mother, Lyne West of Okmulgee.

West said her daughter, who had lived at Fairmont Terrace for five years, told her she needed to check on Kayetie Melchor and Rebeika Powell because she was concerned about the string of recent robberies at the apartment complex.

"Julie said, 'I got a feeling I have to check on those girls.' " West said.

She was not able to contact her daughter early Monday, and a relative later informed her of the news that Jackson, who was the mother of three children, was among the slain.

"I want to know why someone would do this," West said. "God have mercy on their souls."

Rebeika Powell filed a protective order against two people in March 2010. One of the orders was dismissed later that month, and the other was granted for herself and her son for six months.

Nunley pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2007 and uttering a forged instrument in 2006.

Jackson pleaded guilty to possession of a narcotic and possession of drug paraphernalia in Okmulgee County in 1997.

Anyone with more information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS (2677), online at tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers or via text message at CRIMES (274637). Text tips should begin with "Tip918." Tipsters can remain anonymous and may earn a reward.

If you have information

Anyone with information on Monday's shooting at Fairmont Terrace Apartments is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS or visit tulsaworld.com/crimestoppers

Assaults with firearms and homicides

In the area displayed, there were 99 assaults with a firearm reports between Jan. 1, 2011, and Nov. 30, 2012. Records also indicate there have been 19 homicides in the same area from Jan. 1, 2011, to present. Each point on the map reflects the approximate location of where the crime occurred and the number of reports for that location.

Source: Tulsa Police Department
Original Print Headline: Families of victims ask 'Why?'

Amanda Bland 918-581-8413 Kendrick Marshall 918-581-8386
amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com kendrick.marshall@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

Police keep watch outside the Fairmont Terrace apartments in Tulsa on Tuesday. Four women were shot to death inside the complex in the 1100 block of East 60th Street on Monday. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World

Tulsa police patrol the area of 61st Street and Peoria Avenue on Tuesday, a day after four homicides at the Fairmont Terrace apartments. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World