GUILTY NY - Shanta Myers, 36, Brandi Mells, 22, & 2 kids slain, Troy, 26 Dec 2017 *Arrest*

[PrairieWind]

Hmmm, Andreww, based of that, I would guess S<name redacted> is definitely a person of interest.

 

[DAnthrplgst]

From what I can tell this S person suffered some kind of serious injury. A GoFundMe was started to cover funeral expenses but S didn't die. Sounds like our victim, Brandi Mells is accusing one SC of physically harming S and stealing from her. SC defends himself later

Kinda feel bad for that dude, sounds like he really loves S<name redacted>

Thank you for explaining that whole interplay of who S<name redacted> and SC <name redacted> are and how it relates to Brandi.

 

[MaryG12]

First post I think I&#8217;ve made. This case reminds me a little of a case that still disturbs me to this day. The murder of the Harvey family, including little girls, Stella and Ruby. 2006. Killed in the same manner. Wonder if it was a robbery attempt as well?


http://www.richmond.com/news/rememb...cle_69f5a455-2192-5144-93bc-add8aea87e4f.html

Thanks for that link.

So the Harvey family was murder because a door was left open (closed but unlocked) according to that article.

I wonder if the same thing happened with the 2 ladies and the 2 kids in Troy, NY?

Want to hear something weird, I actually know of some people here in Sarasota County who not only leave the doors to their homes unlocked but leave their cars unlocked - many people use garages as storage in FL and have their cars parked outside.

It is unfathomable to me to leave any house or apartment door, or car, unlocked, it really is.

 

[andreww]

Kinda feel bad for that dude, sounds like he really loves S<name redacted>.

Thank you for explaining that whole interplay of who S<name redacted> and SC <name redacted> are and how it relates to Brandi.

What is unclear is where S<name redacted> is? She stopped posting in February. The conflict between Brandi and SC <name redacted> was in the summer. So not sure what happened? Dead? Hospital? Or did she leave him?

 

[Inthedetails]

"Friends described Shanta, 36, as a hard-working mom who was devoted to her kids.

'She was just a very sweet, sweet girl,' Equasia Watson, 30, who lived on the same floor of a River Street housing complex where Shanta and her children previously lived, told The Post.

'I knew her from when she moved here from down South,' she said. 'My son played with her son. We had dinners together. She took her kids to school. She went to work. She got her kids from school. She was always with them kids &#8212; she was a great mother.'

Shanta apparently moved to Troy from North Carolina around 2011, according to friends. She worked at the local Joseph&#8217;s House homeless shelter and more recently at a Sonic fast-food eatery."

https://nypost.com/2017/12/28/this-is-the-family-viciously-killed-in-a-grisly-quadruple-homicide/

 

[gitana1]

The ISIS angle is interesting but I don't think this is an ISIS inspired crime. ISIS crimes target large numbers of people, at least here in the U.S. I could totally see this being the work of some radical homophobic Christian, they don't care if they kill one person or many (look at the variety of murders committed by the anti-abortion radicals, everything from one doctor to several people). But this doesn't seem like a radical Christian crime to me either. This seems to have garden variety wacko all over it.

I don't think it's a family member or jilted lover because the kids were so horrifically murdered. If they were going to kill the kids I could see them using a less brutal way but killing the kids doesn't seem to track with a jilted lover angle or the older son, they would have more of an emotional attachment to the children and their anger would be directed to the two adult women, not the children. If it was the father of the two younger kids, why would he kill them since he would most certainly get custody, provided LE didn't connect him to the crime. I'm thinking home invasion.

No no! I don't think this is terrorists. Or ISIS. I just mean the level of brutality is up their alley. Disgusting.

 

[DAnthrplgst]

What is unclear is where Sam is? She stopped posting in February. The conflict between Brandi and Sosa was in the summer. So not sure what happened? Dead? Hospital? Or did she leave him?

Just wondering about those Facebook links you provided. Are you sure those are our victims?

 

[Sillybilly]

FB posts of a victim or a perp are allowed to be quoted, but posts by others who are non-POIs or suspects are NOT allowed to be brought over for discussion. The full names of any individual contained in Brandi's FB post have been redacted. If an individual is not officially named a POI or suspect, they are not sleuthable and their names are not up for discussion. Sometimes Tricia will make a case specific exception but that is not applicable in this case at this point as the case is very new with many unknowns.

Please learn to read, retain, but refrain from posting everything you think is relevant if it does not comply with Websleuths TOS (or unless a case specific decision to the contrary has been made and posted by WS mods).

 

[DAnthrplgst]

No no! I don't think this is terrorists. Or ISIS. I just mean the level of brutality is up their alley. Disgusting.

Gotcha. I follow you now.

 

[Inthedetails]

FB posts of a victim or a perp are allowed to be quoted, but posts by others who are non-POIs or suspects are NOT allowed to be brought over for discussion. The full names of any individual contained in Brandi's FB post have been redacted. If an individual is not officially named a POI or suspect, they are not sleuthable and their names are not up for discussion. Sometimes Tricia will make a case specific exception but that is not applicable in this case at this point as the case is very new with many unknowns.

Please learn to read, retain, but refrain from posting everything you think is relevant if it does not comply with Websleuths TOS (or unless a case specific decision to the contrary has been made and posted by WS mods).

Thanks, sillybilly!

The only names released by LE so far are for the four victims. That's it. There are no persons of interest or suspects yet.

 

[Sillybilly]

Thanks, sillybilly!

The only names released by LE so far are for the four victims. That's it. There are no persons of interest or suspects yet.

That's my understanding. So, although Brandi's FB post may be of interest down the road, we are not going to drag the folks referred to in that post into this discussion until/unless it seems more relevant as more details become available.

Also, the gofundme of that individual is off-limits. May have absolutely nothing to do with this case.

 

[andreww]

I fail to see how this lady's dead got to do with the crime this thread is about.

Basically Brandi called this person out on facebook for being physically abusive to a good friend of hers. The friend is apparently on life support after complications during child birth. All I'm saying is the man in question could have not taken kindly to Brandi's comments. From his FB posts he seemed very despondent on the 25th & 26th.

Not saying that he had anything to do with this, but he is a person that is accused of violence, and he has had a run-in with Brandi on FB. We will see.

I'll also state that Brandi really didn't post anything publicly, just this one conversation on the request of a friend, so we have no way of knowing if the dispute continued. But it does give us some indication that Brandi was outspoken, and seems to be poorly educated. Other than that, she seemed to use marijuana freely.

 

[andreww]

That's my understanding. So, although Brandi's FB post may be interest down the road, we are not going to drag the folks referred to in that post into this discussion until/unless it seems more relevant as more details become available.

Also, the gofundme of that individual is off-limits. May have absolutely nothing to do with this case.

Sorry SB. Feel free to remove what you need.

 

[therion20]

Basically Brandi called this person out on facebook for being physically abusive to a good friend of hers. The friend is apparently on life support after complications during child birth. All I'm saying is the man in question could have not taken kindly to Brandi's comments. From his FB posts he seemed very despondent on the 25th & 26th.

Not saying that he had anything to do with this, but he is a person that is accused of violence, and he has had a run-in with Brandi on FB. We will see.

I'll also state that Brandi really didn't post anything publicly, just this one conversation, on the request of a friend, so we have no way of knowing if the dispute continued.

But then again this person didn't abuse Brandy that we know of and you have no prove that the abuse to her friend actually happened, is all speculations that don't help with this case right now.

 

[DAnthrplgst]

"Friends described Shanta, 36, as a hard-working mom who was devoted to her kids.

'She was just a very sweet, sweet girl,' Equasia Watson, 30, who lived on the same floor of a River Street housing complex where Shanta and her children previously lived, told The Post.

'I knew her from when she moved here from down South,' she said. 'My son played with her son. We had dinners together. She took her kids to school. She went to work. She got her kids from school. She was always with them kids — she was a great mother.'

Shanta apparently moved to Troy from North Carolina around 2011, according to friends. She worked at the local Joseph’s House homeless shelter and more recently at a Sonic fast-food eatery."

https://nypost.com/2017/12/28/this-is-the-family-viciously-killed-in-a-grisly-quadruple-homicide/

If this characterization is accurate than that makes this crime all the more baffling. Who would want to murder such a devoted, involved mother? I think we can take the specter of a jilted lover/father of the kids off the table. If she moved from NC with her children then that means more than likely the father of the kids was left behind in that state.

 

[andreww]

If this characterization is accurate than that makes this crime all the more baffling. Who would want to murder such a devoted, involved mother? I think we can take the specter of a jilted lover/father of the kids off the table. If she moved from NC with her children then that means more than likely the father of the kids was left behind in that state.

Brandi and Shanta seem to be from two different worlds. I wonder if the killer was from Brandi's world?

 

[Inthedetails]

If this characterization is accurate than that makes this crime all the more baffling. Who would want to murder such a devoted, involved mother? I think we can take the specter of a jilted lover/father of the kids off the table. If she moved from NC with her children then that means more than likely the father of the kids was left behind in that state.

Her youngest child was five, so that means she was born after the move to NC (with the big assumption that the friend providing the 2011 move date is accurate). Perhaps Shanta and her husband both moved north.

We don't know yet.

jmo

 

[andreww]

But then again this person didn't abuse Brandy that we know of and you have no prove that the abuse to her friend actually happened, is all speculations that don't help with this case right now.

Certainly not. But there was allegations from Brandi towards this guy. Might be something, might be nothing.

 

[gitana1]

Just wondering about those Facebook links you provided. Are you sure those are our victims?

Two appear to be but one of those links may be for the older, surviving son and should probably be taken down.

 

[DAnthrplgst]

Brandi and Shanta seem to be from two different worlds. I wonder if the killer was from Brandi's world?

That's a good point. In the article posted further back, where they released the names of the victims, one of the pastors, speaking to the community, said not to let the code of the streets keep someone with knowledge of the crime from reporting it to the police. Why would he say that if it wasn't possibly drug/gang related?