Tulsa's Fairmont Terrace apartments steps up security in wake of killings
BY JERRY WOFFORD & KENDRICK MARSHALL World Staff Writers
Thursday, January 10, 2013
1/10/13 at 3:30 PM
Managers at Fairmont Terrace said they are stepping up security measures at the apartment complex by installing cameras and checking every person who comes onto the property after four women were killed there this week.
They have also instituted 24-hour patrols and closed off other entrances to the property so that residents must go through the central gate, which property manager Angela McGinnis said has been fixed.
Quadruple homicide shooting victims
 |
 |
|
Rebeika Powell, 23 | Kayetie Powell
Melchor, 23 |
|
 |
 |
|
Misty
Nunley, 33 | Julie
Jackson, 55 |
Rebeika Powell, 23; Kayetie Powell Melchor, 23; Misty Nunley, 33; and Julie Jackson, 55, were found shot to death in an apartment about 12:35 p.m. Monday. A 3-year-old boy - Powell's son - was found unharmed in the apartment.
The apartment has seen high rates of violent crime in an area of Tulsa that is prone to crime. The deaths on Monday bring the number of people who died violently in the complex in the last two years to eight.
Charon Powell, the mother of twins Rebeika Powell and Kayetie Melchor, said the crime at the apartment complex gravely concerned her. They had recently worked to move the sisters out of the complex, which they said had lax security. They learned last week that they had been approved at another apartment complex, the mother said.
"They ought to be able to protect them somehow," Powell said. "I don't know how Tulsa, Oklahoma, could let a community like that exist," referring to rampant crime and violence in the area.
Resident Tazaree Eubanks, who has lived in the apartment complex for two years, said she could understand how a vicious crime could take place at the complex, considering what she called its inconsistent security and lack of overall concern for tenants.
"It's horrible," Eubanks said about the role of management. "Something has to change."
Cassie Stanton, also a two-year Fairmont Terrace resident, said the current state of the apartment makes it difficult for the many children who reside there to roam about the premises without constant supervision.
"Kids can't even be out here," Stanton said. "They can't play out here. A lot of people feel it's not safe."
Other residents, including Bobby Foreman, who described himself as a relative of Rebeika Powell and Kayetie Melchor, said the apartment buildings themselves don't attract crime.
"It's the people who they (management) let move in here," Foreman said. "Those are the people who don't belong. They cause all the trouble."
Foreman said he was a friend of 24-year-old Quincy D. Jones, who was fatally shot in one of the apartments last summer.
McGinnis said management officials recognize the challenges presented to the community by crime but said residents she speaks with don't feel threatened.
She said that in meetings with police, several recommendations were made on how to improve the area and that management was working on those before Monday's shootings.
They now have 24-hour patrols through the complex, and the security booth at the front gate is now staffed constantly. Anyone who comes through the gate must have their identification scanned so that they can be checked against the complex's list of banned people. Security cameras are being installed and should be up next month, she said.
McGinnis said background checks have been performed on all residents but that management will step up efforts to check guests and ensure that people aren't staying there who shouldn't be there.
"In that meeting (with police), they made several recommendations - things we can do, how can we stop this," she said. "We have taken those ideas and we've used those.
"We honestly are trying to do everything we can to make it as safe as we can."
Maj. Julie Harris, who heads the Tulsa Police Department's Riverside Division, which includes Fairmont Terrace, said officers have spent time at the complex to speak with residents and management.
"We stay in touch with the high-profile complexes," Harris said. "We have not been invited - nothing formal, just something informal."
She said officers patrol the area as often as possible and that extra officers are sent there whenever they are available.
But Harris said long-term security solutions at the complex will require more than just increased police effort.
"That is something police - a public entity - and private entity (the apartment) should work together to make a safer community," Harris said. "It's incumbent to be good neighbors and good residents. It's everybody's responsibility."
Harris said the division will assess within the next 30 days what additional measures police can take to help with security.
According to county records, the complex is owned by DK Ukiah Properties LLC and 1574 Pacific LLC, both Oklahoma limited liability companies with a single California address.
The Fairmont Terrace complex has 14 residential buildings and 336 apartments.
A collection of local investors has expressed interest in purchasing and developing the complex, which was supported in a resolution by the Tulsa City Council in October.
The real estate purchase contract lists Midwest Development Partners as the buyer at a cost of $18 million. A separate document lists the overall development cost at $42.6 million. The deal is not final.
Man arrested in Kansas is questioned
A man wanted for questioning in a quadruple homicide Monday was arrested and interviewed in Kansas on Wednesday, homicide detectives said.
The Tulsa Police Department on Tuesday named Joseph L. Tillman, 33, as a subject wanted on suspicion of domestic assault and battery.
Investigators also sought to speak with him about the quadruple homicide Monday of four women at the Fairmont Terrace apartment complex. He has not been charged or named as a suspect in the shooting.
Tillman, who is listed in some court records as Tillmon, was arrested in Coffeyville, Kan., and taken to the Montgomery County Jail in Independence, Kan., where he was questioned by detectives Wednesday.
Rebeika Powell, 23; Kayetie Powell Melchor, 23; Misty Nunley, 33; and Julie Jackson, 55, were found shot to death in an apartment about 12:35 p.m. Monday. A 3-year-old boy - Powell's son - was found unharmed in the apartment.
Police are still investigating the crime and have not named a suspect or motive.
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.
Powell funeral fund
A fund to help the Powell family with funeral expenses has been set up at Arvest Bank under the name of "Kayetie and Rebeika Powell Funeral Fund." The account number is 81774889.
To make a donation, go to any Arvest Bank or call the bank at 918-631-1000.
Original Print Headline: Apartments plan greater security
Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310 Kendrick Marshall 918-581-8386
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com kendrick.marshall@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Residents Cassie Stanton (left) and Tazaree Eubanks talk about safety at the Fairmont Terrace apartment complex after four homicides at the apartments. STEPHEN PINGRY/Tulsa World
|
