How Atlanta Kid Survived Massacre
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How Atlanta Kid Survived Massacre
By LORI JOHNSTON
ATLANTA (AP) - Deleane Briskey's home had seen violence before the
massacre
that only her young son would survive.
Four times in recent months, police had been called to the single-story
house -
twice after fights between Ms. Briskey's boyfriend and her ex-husband.
But when
police arrived on Monday, they found the bodies of Ms. Briskey, four of
her
children and her sister.
The sole survivor, 11-year-old Santonio Lucas, told police his mother's
boyfriend, Cyrano Marks, dragged him through the house as he killed.
Marks then
turned the gun on himself, authorities say.
Santonio told police Marks was angry that she wanted to end their
relationship.
He said Marks, 39, herded Ms. Briskey, her sister and four children into
the
master bedroom, but the family scattered when he brandished a pistol.
``They all tried to run, but none were able to escape the house,'' said
Deputy
Chief C.B. Jackson. Marks then dragged Santonio with him from room to
room as
he shot the family.
Santonio said he managed to break free and run into a closet. Marks
found him,
placed a pillow in front of the boy's face and pulled the trigger. The
weapon
jammed. Marks stepped back, fiddled with the gun and fired again. The
bullet
smashed through the boy's elbow.
Santonio fell to the ground and played dead. Moments later, he heard
another
shot. Marks had turned the gun on himself, but Santonio feared the
killer was
still alive. He huddled in a closet for eight hours before running next
door to
the home of Eugene Broadus.
Broadus heard the shots at 6:45 a.m., but assumed they were
firecrackers. He
was gone when Santonio knocked on his door around 2:30 p.m. His wife
told him
what happened.
``He said, `Would you help me? My stepdaddy just killed my mom, my
auntie and
all my family,''' Broadus said. ``He was just sucking his thumb the
whole
time.''
AP-NY-07-14-99
--------------------------------------------------------
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of today's
Reuters news
wire:
July 14, 1999
Reuters
Police, family members and residents are slowly finding out answers to
Monday's
gruesome mass murder in southwest Atlanta. Authorities say the victims
were
awakened and herded into a room where the gunman produced a nine
millimeter,
semi-automatic pistol. That's when family members scattered. Cyrano
Marks went
room-to-room and shot each person in the head. Eleven-year-old Santonia
Lucas
was an intended victim, but survived because the gun misfired. He played
dead
when the second shot wounded his elbow. Marks then turned the gun on
himself.
When it was over three adults and four children were dead. A motive for
the
killings has not been established, but police say there was an ongoing
dispute
between Marks and the children's biological father.
-------------------------------------------------------
Monday's massacre of seven people is focusing attention on domestic
violence
July 14, 1999
Reuters
Monday's massacre of seven people is focusing attention on domestic
violence.
Officials at the Georgia Crime Information Center say there were more
than
54-hundred reported incidents of family violence last year. Seventy-one
people
died from incidents of domestic violence and 22-percent of those cases
involved
children.
-----------------------------------------------------
The following five news articles all appear courtesy of the 7/14/99
online
edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7.14.99
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : M A S S K I L
L I N G I N
A T L A N T A
Boy saw family shot to death
By Lyda Longa and Tinah Saunders
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers
In one day, 11-year-old Santonio Lucas experienced enough misery and
violence
for a lifetime.
Monday morning, rustled out of bed in his southwest Atlanta home by his
mother's boyfriend, the youngster was forced to watch the slayings of
his
mother, aunt and four siblings. Yanked by the neck, Santonio was dragged
from
one room to another while Cyrano Marks, the man he knew as "stepdad,"
shot each
one of the sixth-grader's family members in the head, Atlanta police
said
Tuesday.
Santonio briefly escaped the killer's grasp and run into a closet. But
Marks
found him, placed a pillow over the terrified child's face and tried to
fire a
bullet from a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol into his head, said Deputy
Police Chief
C.B. Jackson.
"For some reason, the gun didn't go off," Jackson said. "Marks stepped
back and
tried to shoot again. This time the gun worked and the bullet hit
Santonio on
the elbow. At that point the child dropped down and pretended to be
dead.
"Marks left him in the closet and a few minutes later shot and killed
himself."
When it was all over, Santonio's mother, Deleane Briskey, 33, and his
aunt
Essie Hugeley, 36, were dead. Also slain were four of Santonio's
brothers and
sisters: David Antonio Lucas, 13, Craig DeCarlo Briskey, 15, Antione
DeAndre
Lucas, 9, and Torsha Briskey, 16.
Police learned of the carnage only after Santonio crawled out of the
closet
where he hid, climbed over the bodies of his family and ran to a
neighbor's
home.
He had spent eight hours in the cramped space in a fetal position,
wondering
when it would be safe to go for help.
Police are still trying to determine why Marks, who dated Briskey, woke
up
Santonio's family at about 6:15 a.m. Monday, herded them into the master
bedroom and announced he was going to kill them, Jackson said.
Investigators also are trying to discern why Marks, 39, chose Santonio
as his
human shield.
"We are trying not to press this child because he's been through too
much,"
Jackson said Tuesday. "But everything we know is coming from this boy.
He was
the only survivor, and we're talking to him slowly."
Atlanta police were not strangers to Briskey's home at 3783 Adamsville
Drive
S.W.
In the past two years officers had been dispatched there for
domestic-related
problems, Jackson said. Most of the time the aggressor was not Marks,
but
Briskey's former husband, David Lucas. Reports show Lucas sparked
arguments at
the house because he often showed up unannounced to visit Santonio and
his
siblings.
Clayton County police said Marks had troubles of his own.
In November 1989, he was arrested as a suspect in the killing of a Delta
Air
Lines employee. The victim was hit in the back of the head with an
object
police were never able to identify. A description of a vehicle was
traced to
Marks, and police learned his name from people at the victim's
apartment.
But a magistrate judge decided evidence was insufficient, and the case
never
reached the Clayton County district attorney's office.
News of the slayings saddened the neighborhood where the Briskey and
Lucas
children lived, played and attended school.
Antione DeAndre was supposed to start the third grade this fall at Miles
Elementary. His brother David was to enter eighth grade at Usher Middle
School.
Craig was going into the 10th grade at South Atlanta High and Torsha
attended
Mays High, where she was going into the 11th grade.
Santonio, who turns 12 next week, is scheduled to enter the seventh
grade at
Usher, and his sister Jalisa Denise Lucas, 10, who was not at home at
the time
of the shooting, will be in the fifth grade at Miles.
Antione was proud of himself because he had learned to read, said
teacher
Angela Daniels. She said the boy "couldn't read a lick" when she started
working with him daily in second grade. The child was so excited about
learning
that he did extra work at home, and by the end of second grade he could
read,
Daniels said. He repeated second grade last year, but he would always
report to
his former teacher: "Miss Daniels, I can read real well now."
Jalisa, described as an active student, is in Miles' gifted program and
in the
school's modern dance group, Principal Gwendolyn Mayfield said. Their
mother
kept in regular contact with the school, Mayfield said. Daniels said all
three
Lucas children were "mannerful."
The Miles school community has been hit hard by the tragedy, Mayfield
said.
"All of the teachers have been calling or coming by," the principal
said. "They
just need to talk and determine what kinds of things we need to do to
assist
the family members."
The older children held jobs as well as keeping up with their school
work.
Six Flags Over Georgia officials said Torsha worked at the theme park's
Sweetwater Falls attraction. Her brother Craig quit the park this month,
apparently because of a scheduling conflict.
Members of Santonio's family gathered Tuesday at the Ormewood Park home
of
Lovie Moten, the boy's maternal grandmother. The massive clan of aunts,
uncles,
cousins, grandchildren and great-grandchildren spilled out onto the lawn
and
driveway. They were alternately solemn and smiling as they recalled
happy
family memories.
Carolyn Briskey Bailey, 28, the youngest sister of the two slain women,
showed
off the braids Deleane Briskey had done for her Saturday night.
Mattie Pearl Briskey shook her head as she told how she learned of the
shooting
from television -- "just like everyone else. It hurt, it really hurt,"
she
said.
Amid the familial chatter, laughter and tears, Moten remained calm, her
smooth,
unwrinkled face serene. She had done all her crying, she said.
"I only hope they didn't hurt too much," Moten said. "They were probably
scared
for a minute when they knew something bad was going to happen, but it
all
happened so quickly they probably didn't hurt."
A strong faith in God carried her through, Moten said.
"If I didn't know Jesus, I would be totally destroyed. But I do know him
and I
know it's a better place for the children. I know I'll see them again
one day."
Staff writers Gary Hendricks and Rochelle Carter contributed to this
article.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7.14.99
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : M A S S K I L
L I N G I N
A T L A N T A
Doctors plot boy's physical,
psychological recovery
By Clint Williams
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Surgeons may repair the shattered right elbow of Santonio Lucas later
this
week. The timetable for healing his shattered life is less certain.
Recovering from the emotional trauma of being shot after witnessing the
murder
of your mother and siblings can take a lifetime, experts said Tuesday.
Santonio, 11, hid in a hall closet for more than eight hours Monday
after his
mother's boyfriend went on an early morning rampage with a
semi-automatic
handgun, killing six people before shooting himself.
"Something like this," said Nadine Kaslow, chief of psychology and
psychiatry
at the School of Medicine at Emory University, "changes the course of a
child's
life."
The murders changed the lives of two children: Santonio and his younger
sister,
Jalisa, 10, who was not at home Monday morning.
The day after the massacre, Santonio appeared to be in relatively good
spirits,
said Dr. Leon Haley, an emergency department physician at Grady Memorial
Hospital.
The boy was speaking to hospital staff, police investigators and to a
steady
stream of family visiting his private room, Haley said. Santonio was
even
asking what time meals were served.
The bullet shattered the boy's olecranon, the elbow bone that sticks out
when
you bend your arm. Santonio complained of some numbness in his fingers
Monday
night and that raised the concern of nerve damage. But by Tuesday, Haley
said,
the boy had use of his fingers. The surgery to put the elbow back
together will
take place when the swelling of the arm has gone down, Haley said.
Visits from family members is are important to Santonio's psychological
recovery, experts said.
"One of the most important things is for people that know this child to
rally
around him," said Kaslow, adding "he has lost the people that would
normally
calm a child in the face of crisis."
Family members need to provide reassurance to the boy, said Kaslow and
others.
In addition to reassurance, adults must provide consistency and
stability, said
Roy Kern, a professional counselor and professor in the Department of
Counseling and Psychological Services at Georgia State University.
Case workers with the Fulton County Department of Family and Children
Services
will be looking for stability when it comes time for Santonio to leave
the
hospital, said spokeswoman Sherekka Orsorio.
The agency will do "a thorough investigation of the home life, the work
life,
the social life," before placing the boy with his father or any other
relative,
Orsorio said.
Jalisa's custody also must be determined. Orsorio said that DFCS had no
history
with the family.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7.14.99
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : M A S S K I L
L I N G I N
A T L A N T A
'89 murder charge was dropped
By Bill Montgomery
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Cyrano Andrew Marks, the triggerman in Atlanta's bloodiest massacre this
century, was charged in a previous homicide.
Clayton County police charged Marks with the murder of Otha Baker in
November
1989. Baker was struck in the back of the head and killed in his College
Park
apartment. Witnesses and a car linked Marks to the crime, Clayton police
said,
but a magistrate court judge decided evidence was insufficient, so the
charge
was dismissed in Clayton magistrate's court in November 1989.
Atlanta police said Marks had no criminal record in the city.
Marks killed two women and four children and then killed himself early
Monday
in a southwest Atlanta house, police said.
Meanwhile, a former neighbor of Marks described him as quiet but
friendly.
"He took his children to school and he brought my little boy home once,"
said
Gwen Favors, who lived next to Marks in a Riverdale townhouse complex.
Favors said Marks and a woman and the couple's two children were living
on
Glenbevon Court when Favors moved there in 1995. Favors said her
recollection
was that Marks left in late 1996.
The woman never complained about Marks, Favors said, but "she came over
here
one day just crying and said, 'He left me for a woman with a lot of
kids.'"
"He had come by to see the boys not long ago," Favors said. "Thank God
[the
woman] got away from him."
---------------------------------------------------
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7.14.99
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : M A S S K I L
L I N G I N
A T L A N T A
Neighbors deal with shock, grief
By Lyda Longa
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Sharon Smith drove up in front of the Adamsville Drive house where seven
people
were fatally shot Monday and tied a bright blue balloon, bearing a
spiritual
message, to the open mailbox.
Smith, who grew up on the Atlanta street where the multiple
murder-suicide took
place, needed to resolve the grief she felt Tuesday when she learned two
women
and four children had been killed in their home, near where she once
played
hide-and-seek.
"I had to come here and leave this balloon behind because I felt it
would bring
peace to me, to the neighborhood and to this family," Smith said.
The need for assistance in coping with the tragedy was anticipated by
city
officials, who are offering counseling services for residents affected
by it.
Members of Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell's Office of Community Affairs
passed out
fliers offering free counseling.
"There is hurt in this community," said Michael Langford, director of
the
Office of Community Affairs. "Seldom do you see a neighborhood losing
seven of
its members in one day inside a house. This is a devastation that will
begin to
sink in for people in the next few days.
"We're here to offer the help to children and adults who want to talk."
As Langford spoke, a handful of city employees spread about the
neighborhood,
knocking on doors and stopping motorists, handing them the white fliers
with
the words "Counseling available for the community," across it.
A white motor home was parked at the end of the street staffed with at
least
two counselors ready to help residents who could not drive to City Hall
for
help, Langford said.
Longtime Adamsville Drive resident Thomas Carswell, 80, said he would
not use
the counseling service but hoped others would.
"Nothing surprises me any more," Carswell said, "but others in this
neighborhood should take advantage of this help - they'll need it."
Tenecia Fuller, 20, stood next to the cream-colored house where the
shootings
occurred. The house was eerily silent, the dark red curtains shut, two
cars
parked in the driveway. Potted plants left on the doorstep and a bouquet
of
flowers and balloons left at the mailbox made the house seem even more
desolate.
Fuller's brother, Marco, dated Torsha Briskey, 16, who was killed
Monday.
"They were so happy. All the kids were happy when I saw them on Sunday
night,"
Fuller said grimacing. "Torsha and my brother were in love. They had
just made
plans on Sunday night to take pictures together to celebrate their
relationship. They all died the next day."
-------------------------------------------------
[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7.14.99
S P E C I A L R E P O R T : M A S S K I L
L I N G I N
A T L A N T A
Standoff with dogs didn't
interfere with police routine
By Carlos Campos
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
Although police were kept at bay for more than two hours by two
aggressive dogs
that prevented them from entering the scene of Monday's massacre,
authorities
had determined the seven people in the southwest Atlanta home were dead
before
the standoff with the animals.
Deputy Police Chief C.B. Jackson said the uniformed officers who went to
the
house were able to walk through it and determine that everyone inside
was dead.
Animal control officers were called to the scene about 2:50 p.m. Monday
and
arrived about 40 minutes later, said Jim Albertson, operations director
of the
Atlanta Humane Society. Police were called to the home by neighbors
about 2:38
p.m. Detectives entered the house about 5 p.m.
"Since they had already determined that everybody was dead, it was not
an
emergency to get in," Albertson said.
Experts in police procedure say delays such as the one caused by the
dogs have
minimal impact on homicide investigators' ability to process a crime
scene.
"Any evidence that will be processed in the crime lab, such as
fingerprints ...
bodily fluids, DNA, that should not impact on the results of the
investigation," said Robert Friedmann, chairman of the department of
criminal
justice at Georgia State University. "Even a year later, they can pick
up
latent fingerprints."
Jackson said there was no need to kill the dogs to enter the home, since
the
department's policy on deadly force is the same for animals as it is for
humans. Officers are allowed to use deadly force only if they feel their
life,
or the lives of others, are in danger.
"The dogs were not threatening the officers, but these animals had seen
a lot
of violence and they did not know us," Jackson said. "We did not want to
shoot
them or hurt them if we didn't have to."
Dave Morris, assistant director of the Georgia Public Safety Training
Center in
Forsyth, said his agency doesn't offer training on dealing with vicious
animals
at crime scenes, because it is a rare occurrence.
"I would think they did the proper thing," Morris said. "If they checked
and
knew everyone in the house was deceased, then the goal is to not get any
officers hurt."
Dennis McGowan, chief investigator for the Fulton County Medical
Examiner's
Office, said the delay caused by the dogs did not compromise the
collection of
forensic evidence.
"We always consider what we find in terms of how old it is, so for
something to
be an hour old, or three hours, or six hours, as long as we understand
what the
potential time frame is...our investigation isn't jeopardized by the
passage of
that time," McGowan said.
The dogs, a Rottweiler and a pit bull, are being held with Fulton County
Animal
Control until family members can make a decision on whether to keep
them.
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