Baltimore City Police Continue To Search For Tips In Triple Murder Case
BALTIMORE (WJZ)— Three people are shot and killed inside a Northeast Baltimore home that is then set on fire. One year later, police say they're at a dead end.
Monique Griego has more on what's being done to keep the case alive.
Family members are working with police to keep attention on the case. Despite that they believe it was sloppy police work that botched the investigation.
It's a murder mystery that left a community shaken and two families devastated.
"We're really struggling to deal with the pain and the hurt that we have to deal with," said Bertina Ricks.
One year ago, Ricks' son Michael Jones was found murdered inside a home on Nicholas Avenue, along with his friend Tanyika Gibbs and her father, Billie Ray Lovitt.
The victims were shot in the head. Firefighters discovered their bodies only after the house was set on fire.
"Whoever did this, they don't have no heart. They is a cold-blooded killer," said Tyrell Lovitt, whose father and sister were killed.
Family members gathered together to reignite attention on the now cold case.
"At this point we've pretty much exhausted every lead that we've had," said Det. Donny Moses, Baltimore City Police.
Besides the mystery surrounding the murder, questions have also been raised about how police responded to the crime. That's because 90 minutes before the killer set the house on fire officers were called out for shots fired but left because nothing looked out of the ordinary.
"If they'd of done the proper job they were supposed to do, they'd of caught the killers," Lovitt said.
Lovitt also believes they could have saved his sister, who was still alive when firefighters found her.
Despite their anger, both families are working with detectives who canvassed the neighborhood Tuesday.
Ricks says it's all she can do until the killer is caught.
"Whoever done it, there is no peace for you. You will not rest until you come to closure with it," said a loved one of the victims.
From the beginning police have said the officers who responded to the home did all they could do, saying they did not have the right to enter the home.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Baltimore City Police.
