2 Girls Slain in NJ; Half-Brother Held
Pastor Dale Morgan
2 Girls Slain in NJ; Half-Brother Held*
By GEOFF MULVIHILL,
Associated Press Writer
WEST DEPTFORD, N.J. - A young man authorities say strangled his
half-sisters, ages 6 and 10, was charged Friday with aggravated assault
for allegedly attacking his mother in a rampage at the family home.
Marqueese Lee, 20, is expected to be charged with murder for the girls'
deaths, said Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County
Prosecutor's Office.
Authorities went to the home Thursday evening when a neighbor reported
the girls' mother, Lucille Bevans, had been struck in the head with a
hammer. She escaped with her 1-year-old nephew but said the girls were
still inside.
Police broke into the home and recovered the girls' bodies, according to
witnesses. All the while, Lee was barricaded in the living room, holding
a knife to his chest, said Thomas Sullivan, chief of detectives for the
Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.
Lee was taken into custody a short time later. Bail was set Friday at
$100,000. Lee was being held at an undisclosed facility where his mental
health could be evaluated, Weisenfeld said. It was not clear on Friday
whether he had a lawyer.
Neighbors in the middle-class Philadelphia suburb said the girls, India
Duncan, 6, and Aliah Scott, 10, were happy kids.
India liked to chase neighbor Mike Fouch's dog. Aliah was recognizable
as a junior safety officer at her school. They wore braided hair
extenders and often asked if they could take a dip in one neighbor's pool.
"They were so cute," said Shayla Wilson, who lives down the street.
Lee often watched the girls while their mother was working; neighbors
said Bevans is a fast-food restaurant manager. She was released from a
hospital Friday after being treated for her injuries.
Neighbors said Lee had dropped out of high school but seemed to have
many friends.
Township police had been at the house at least once previously for a
domestic situation involving Lee and his mother, Sullivan said.