GUILTY IL - Yoko Cullen, 85, abducted & murdered, East St Louis, 20 May 2011

[UdbCrzy2]

EDWARDSVILLE • An 85-year-old woman kidnapped in May outside a bingo game in Collinsville and locked into her car trunk was alive when the car burned, a Madison County coroner's jury was told Wednesday.

Three people have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Yoko Cullen of Belleville, who apparently was the victim of a carjacking as she left the Firemen's Hall on Collinsville Road at the west edge of Collinsville.

The car was found burned May 20 near the intersection of 11th Street and Falling Springs Road in East St. Louis. Her remains were discovered after the car had been towed to Andy's Auto Body and Towing in Madison. That's why the inquest was in Madison County even though the charges are in St. Clair County.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_0d3508ae-fa6c-5342-ab36-d58fb8b5367d.html




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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — An investigator says an 85-year-old woman whose body was found in the trunk of her car was alive when her suspected carjackers set the vehicle ablaze.

Madison County coroner’s investigator Shane Liley testified during an inquest Wednesday in Edwardsville that Yoko Cullen’s windpipe was coated with soot, meaning she died after her car was torched.

Prosecutors in neighboring St. Clair County have charged three people with first-degree murder.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/08/17/85-year-old-woman-torched-alive/

 

[Tiki]

OMG
She was burned alive?
Those sick bast**ds!

I just can hardly think about it - my mom is 85 . . .
That poor woman.

.

 

[krimekat]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_0d3508ae-fa6c-5342-ab36-d58fb8b5367d.html

East St. Louis police Detective Orlando Ward said after the hearing that investigators believe Cullen was acquainted with one of the accused killers, Latosha A. Cunningham, and that both frequently played bingo at the hall.

Ward said the killers may have believed, mistakenly, that Cullen carried a substantial sum of money. Murder charges were filed against Cunningham, 37, of Belleville; Daquan D. Barnes, 18, of Granite City; and his cousin, Demarcus D. Barnes, 28, of Belleville.

wow . . . first I heard of this - and in my metro area!

 

[UdbCrzy2]

Two of three defendants accused of carjacking a Belleville woman leaving a bingo game, then setting the car on fire with the woman in the trunk will receive psychological exams to determine if they are fit to stand trial.

Lawyers for Latosha Cunningham, 38, and DaQuan D. Barnes, 20, requested mental evaluations.

http://www.bnd.com/2011/09/08/1851024/mental-evaluations-ordered-for.html

 

[OkieGranny]

From December 2013:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/...cle_c74c313e-2f16-5ca6-85be-8ed3699978ce.html

A woman whom prosecutors called the ringleader in the kidnapping and murder of an elderly Belleville woman in 2011 after she left a bingo game was sentenced Tuesday to the maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.

LaTosha Cunningham, 40, of Belleville, was one of three people charged with the murder of Yoko Cullen, 85, in May 2011. Cunningham will serve the sentence without parole...

Last month, DaQuan D. Barnes, 21, of Granite City, was sentenced to 60 years without parole for his role in the crime. Also charged in the killing was Barnes’ cousin, Demarcus Barnes, 30, of Belleville. Demarcus Barnes was found mentally unfit to stand trial.

 

[JerseyGirl]

A Judge ruled last week a man involved in the 2011 death of 85-year-old Yoko Cullen remains mentally unfit to stand trial and is an ongoing threat to the public. 35-year-old Demarcus Barnes was committed to a secure mental health treatment facility until he is well enough to face murder charges or 80 years, whichever comes first.

Man accused in killing over bingo winnings unfit for trial