Olney double slaying victims identified
Two friends sitting on a porch in Olney on a rainy Monday night were killed in cold blood when a man walked up and shot both of them at close range, police said. The victims were identified this morning as Rodney Ramseur, 21, who lived at the house on Sparks Street near 3rd, and Latia Jones, also 21, who lived one block over on North 4th Street.
Two friends sitting on a porch in Olney on a rainy Monday night were killed in cold blood when a man walked up and shot both of them at close range, police said.
The victims were identified this morning as Rodney Ramseur, 21, who lived at the house on Sparks Street near 3rd, and Latia Jones, also 21, who lived one block over on North 4th Street.
Cops responding to a call for a shooting at 8:30 p.m. found the wounded pair; each had been shot in the chest and head. Although wounded, Ramseur jumped a wrought iron fence and attempted to run down the street, but made it only about the length of four houses before collapsing in the middle of the narrow street, according to investigators. He was pronounced dead there at 8:34 p.m.
Jones fell to the ground on the porch and was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, but doctors were unable to save her. She was pronounced dead at 9:37 p.m.
Investigators said the porch was covered in blood and shattered glass from a table that had been damaged in the mayhem. At least five shell casings were found at the scene, along with bullet fragments, cops said.
Police were looking for a young black man in a gray hooded sweatshirt and dark blue jeans who was last seen running northbound on 3rd Street toward Godfrey Avenue from the shooting scene. They also were seeking an older model gray Ford Taurus with a black hood that may have been connected to the double slaying.
Ramseur's 18-year-old sister, who authorities said is eight months pregnant, was inside the house at the time of the shooting. She was not hurt, but officials said she was so shaken by her brother's violent death that she may have gone into labor. She was taken to the hospital by medics as police investigated the double homicide.
Distraught family members gathered on the corner of 3rd and Rosemar Streets in the wake of the killings, embracing each other and sobbing.
Contact Morgan Zalot at 215-854-5928 or zalotm@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @morganzalot. Read her blog PhillyConfidential.com.