Suspect in 7 Indy Slayings Surrenders

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Suspect in 7 Indy Slayings Surrenders
By ASHLEY M. HEHER, Associated Press Writer
3 hours ago


This photo provided by the Indianapolis Police Department, Friday, ...
INDIANAPOLIS - A two-day manhunt for an ex-convict suspected of gunning down seven family members ended when he walked into a fast-food restaurant and surrendered to police.

Surrounded by family members, 28-year-old Desmond Turner said little to authorities Saturday night.

"He couldn't look at anybody," Deputy Police Chief Tim Foley said. "He had his head down. He was sullen."

His arrest capped an intense search for suspects in the city's worst mass murder in at least 25 years. Police said they issued at least six search warrants since Thursday's shootings and shot tear gas into two homes as more than 100 officers combed the city's east side looking for Turner.

"It's my judgment that Mr. Turner had nowhere to go," Foley said. "He didn't turn himself in out of remorse. He turned himself in because he had no place to go."

Turner faces seven counts of murder.

Another suspect, 30-year-old James Stewart, was arrested Friday after a traffic stop. He was being held Saturday on a preliminary charge of murder, police said.

Authorities also confiscated a weapon.

"We got several pieces of evidence that will be forensically powerful," Foley said.

Nearly 30 shell casings from an assault rifle were found at the home.

The victims were identified as Emma Valdez, 46; her husband, Alberto Covarrubias, 56; their sons Alberto Covarrubias, 11, and David Covarrubias, 8 or 9; Valdez's daughter, Flora Albarran, 22; Albarran's 5-year-old son, Luis; and Albarran's brother Magno Albarran, 29.

For Maria Flores, Valdez's sister, Turner's arrest was a relief.

"I forgive him for what he did," she said. "I just feel sorry for him because he made a wrong decision. I just hope God forgives him for what he did."

Turner grew up in the neighborhood where the shootings occurred and had returned last fall after being released from prison following a 3 1/2-year term for drug and weapons charges.

Police said they believe the suspects targeted the home after hearing exaggerated accounts of money and other valuables inside. They described those accounts as "fiction," but declined to elaborate.

Valdez and Alberto Covarrubias, who reportedly worked as a maintenance man at an apartment complex, owned seven properties in the neighborhood.

"From day one we were under the impression it was a robbery, and that's what we still believe," Foley said.

Neighbors, friends and others left flowers, ribbons, candles, dozens of stuffed animals along a sidewalk in front of the home. Cars drove by slowly while people knelt to pray. A memorial service was to be held in front of the home Sunday evening.

"God shall bring justice to them, celebrate the way they lived, not the way they left us," read one note left atop seven red roses at the modest tan house. "A good family is gone, but not forgotten. Shall they all rest in peace."

Adults and children, many in tears, streamed through nearby Thomas D. Gregg Elementary, where David and Alberto had attended classes, to speak with grief counselors Saturday.

"Indianapolis can sleep a lot easier tonight," Deputy Police Chief Clifford Myers said.

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These two should be made to be target holders at Knob Creek

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