Last Updated on August 19, 2020
Four black teenagers have been charged in relation to the murder and robbery of 17-year-old Veronica Baker in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Baker, a recent graduate of Garner High School near Raleigh, North Carolina, was found shot inside her car in a Bojangle’s parking lot by a passer-by at 8PM on Saturday night. The door was wide open and the vehicle was still running, according to the 911 caller. “She’s not breathing. I’ve tried to shake her,” the caller said. “No response, nothing.”
Devin Cordell Jones, 17, was subsequently arrested on Tuesday night, along with Keyshara Deans, 19, Tyreek Rogers, 18, and Neziyha Collins, 19. Jones was charged with Baker’s murder, while the other three teenagers have been charged with felony accessory for assisting Jones in attempting to flee from North Carolina.
Deans was charged with driving Jones away from the scene of the horrific crime, while Rogers and Collins allegedly fled the state with the murder suspect. The three teenagers have been held on bail ranging from $500,000 to $1 million in Wake County Detention Centre.
READ MORE: Black Man Executes White Child in Broad Daylight in North Carolina Neighborhood
Jim Baker, Veronica’s father, told WRAL News that his daughter knew Jones, believing that was why she would have let him into her car. He said he was grateful the police had made the arrests, adding that his daughter “didn’t deserve to get shot and killed and left in a parking lot.”
“She was my baby. She was my baby who had a future. She had such big, big plans for her future,” Laura Baker, Veronica’s mother added. “My daughter would never hurt anybody. She didn’t have a fighting chance in this. She was a good girl.”
Speaking exclusively to National File, a schoolmate of Baker’s said that she was a “really nice person who would never harm anyone.” He said what happened to her was “a senseless act of violence,” and was surprised at the lack of mainstream media coverage regarding her case.
At the time of writing, no national mainstream news outlets have covered the story. Despite having local affiliates cover the story, both NBC and ABC have no such article on their national websites.