Police: Dad shot mother, burned their baby alive

[-88-]

Jimmie Reed Jr.

Police: Dad shot mother, burned their baby alive

As family members wailed and cried, police officials recounted the horrific details of the brutal slayings of a mother and her infant daughter.

The woman's boyfriend, 30-year-old Jimmie Reed Jr. of Detroit, sat stoically in court as he was charged with a spate of felonies in the deaths of Markeda Byas, 31, and her 2-month-old daughter, Arctavia Reed - also his child. Detectives say Reed - who has no criminal history - confessed to the slayings, saying he believed Byas was cheating on him and had given him a sexually transmitted disea
se. He also balked at paying child support for Arctavia.

"This is the most vicious crime, in my 14 years as a prosecutor, that I've had to review," said Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Sydney Turner. "He burned alive a 2-month-old infant. Prior to that, he put a bullet through her 31-year-old mother's head."

Detective Darrin McAllister said he was deeply affected by the crime. He said that at about 8 a.m. July 20, Reed - who had a key to Byas' apartment in the Wind Song complex off Walton Boulevard - shot Byas in the head and left Arctavia with her dead mother for about 18 hours. In the early morning of July 21, Reed returned to the home, doused both Arctavia and Byas with gasoline and lighted a match, as the baby screamed.

The bodies were found in Byas' bed. Byas died of the gunshot wound; Arctavia died of smoke inhalation.

"It appears he was trying to cover up the crime scene," McAllister said.

Reed led a double life, McAllister said, with three or four girlfr
iends on the side and children by other women. At least one of Reed's girlfriends was in court. On Monday, Reed came to the Pontiac Police Department to speak to detectives, and he confessed to the crime.

Reed was charged Wednesday before 50th District Court Judge Leo Bowman with first- and second-degree murder, arson and felony firearms.

He's being held without bond and will be back in court Aug. 8. If convicted, Reed will spend the rest of his life in prison.

He requested a courtappointed attorney.

Family members of Reed and Byas were in court Wednesday, but they declined to comment. Byas also had a 7-year-old son who was staying with relatives at the time of the killings.

Byas worked as a laborer in Auburn Hills and was known to her neighbors as a good mother who was quiet and shy. She originally was from the Flint area.

The deaths of Byas and Arctavia were the city's ninth and 10th homicides this year.

"I commend the job that these detectives did,
" said Police Chief Valard Gross. "Our hearts go out to the family. We can't believe someone would do a vicious act like this."

[Buster]

Only a fricken jig kills like that. Another POS for the white taxpayer to support.

[Gman]

I agree Buster!! Only jigs can act in such a way. Of course, now he gets a lifetime pass to nigger heaven at our expense. If only there was another way to deal with a jig like this that would be so much cheaper, quicker, and more satisfying, hmmmmmmm........... I have another idea.........

Gman

[-88-]

Man, 31, found guilty in deaths of ex and baby

Detroiter Jimmie Reed Jr. is to spend the rest of his life in prison after a judge found him guilty of shooting his ex-girlfriend to death in her Pontiac apartment, then setting their newborn baby on fire in an apparent attempt to avoid paying child support.

Both Reed's family and that of the victims, Markeda Byas, 31, and 2-month-old Arctavia Reed, cried as Judge Fred Mester pronounced Reed, 31, guilty of first-degree murder, felony murder, arson and using a firearm to commit a felony.

Mester, a judge for 26 years, struggled with his emotions as he delivered the verdict.

He said the 2-day trial showed that Reed killed Byas intentionally, and then returned several hours later and doused the bed where she and the baby lay with gasoline and set it on fire. The baby died of burns and smoke inhalation.

"He willfully and maliciously burned the dwelling for the purpose of covering up the murder he had committed," Mester said, as Reed sat with his head bowed. "All his actions subsequent to the killings show that there was only one person he was concerned about, and that person was Jimmie Reed Jr."

Outside the courtroom, one of Reed's family members fainted and paramedics were called.

Pontiac Detective Darrin McAllister, a 15-year veteran who investigated the murders and obtained a confession from Reed two days later, still was shaken from the trial.

"I still have trouble sleeping at night," he said. "I still have a bad time with it."

Reed is scheduled to be sent to prison for life on Dec. 12.

[LaKooneshia]

Jimmie Reed Wins This Week's

Ghetto Lobster Recipe Contest

Grand Prize Is A Lifetime Of Free Food, Lodging, Sex, And Medical Care