Daniel Pinna
Girls accused of killing over money
Baby-faced Tanisha Wheeler was described by her attorney as an all-A student who got caught up in something she didn't understand, and now she is charged with first-degree murder. Wheeler and Tanika Lynch, both 16, are accused of fatally shooting and stabbing a Harrison Township woman in an argument over money.
The body of Jocelyn Payne, 27, was found by her 11-year-old daughter when she returned from school Feb. 16. Wheeler and Lynch face murder and firearms charges; Lynch also is accused of possessing cocaine. They will be tried as adults, said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Kim Mitseff. Macomb County Sheriff William Hackel said one of the girls had lived with Payne and believed Payne owed her money.
"One of the two went behind the deceased and shot her in the back of the head with a small-caliber handgun," Hackel said. "Then she stabbed her many times, both in the front and in the back...to make sure she was dead." No one at Wednesday's hearing in Macomb County Juvenile Court said which girl is accused of doing the killing.
"My client's character would lead me to beleive she is not the one," said Wheeler's lawyer, Mark Swanson. Wheeler appeared at the hearing, but Lynch did not. "She's upset. She's distraught. She's a kid," said her lawyer, Janet Sowell. A 19-year-old man also is facing charges in the case. His name was withheld pending his arraignment. Hackel said the man drove the girls to and from Payne's home and was the key that unlocked the case for the sheriff's department.
"A citizen reported a suspicious car in the complex where the victim was killed," Hackel said. The man was sitting in the car and told police he was waiting for some people int he apartment, Hackel said. Police took down his name and license plate number. "Four horus later, when we found a murder, we were able to tie it all together," Hackel said. They traced the car and made the arrests.
- The preceding appeared in the Detroit Free Press in Detroit Michigan on Thursday February 23rd 1995:
The body of Jocelyn Payne, 27, was found by her 11-year-old daughter when she returned from school Feb. 16. Wheeler and Lynch face murder and firearms charges; Lynch also is accused of possessing cocaine. They will be tried as adults, said Macomb County Assistant Prosecutor Kim Mitseff. Macomb County Sheriff William Hackel said one of the girls had lived with Payne and believed Payne owed her money.
"One of the two went behind the deceased and shot her in the back of the head with a small-caliber handgun," Hackel said. "Then she stabbed her many times, both in the front and in the back...to make sure she was dead." No one at Wednesday's hearing in Macomb County Juvenile Court said which girl is accused of doing the killing.
"My client's character would lead me to beleive she is not the one," said Wheeler's lawyer, Mark Swanson. Wheeler appeared at the hearing, but Lynch did not. "She's upset. She's distraught. She's a kid," said her lawyer, Janet Sowell. A 19-year-old man also is facing charges in the case. His name was withheld pending his arraignment. Hackel said the man drove the girls to and from Payne's home and was the key that unlocked the case for the sheriff's department.
"A citizen reported a suspicious car in the complex where the victim was killed," Hackel said. The man was sitting in the car and told police he was waiting for some people int he apartment, Hackel said. Police took down his name and license plate number. "Four horus later, when we found a murder, we were able to tie it all together," Hackel said. They traced the car and made the arrests.
- The preceding appeared in the Detroit Free Press in Detroit Michigan on Thursday February 23rd 1995:
Kathy Pinna 
Lori Russell 
