Two teens charged in slaying of elderly couple

Karen Zekan

Thursday, Sept. 24, 1998 | 10:51 a.m.

The Candy Lady nearly always left her front window's lace curtains open, making it easier to see the children on their way up the walk to her door.

They came for the treats she'd sell from her kitchen, or the ice cream in a freezer on the simple wooden home's front porch. She'd most often let them in by calling out an invitation from her chair inside; age had left the 86-year-old half-blind, on a cane and barely able to walk.

Age also rendered the motherly spirit a defenseless victim.

About 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, neighbors heard the bangs from a large-caliber pistol which instantly killed the senior citizen and a 71-year-old man inside 832 Blankenship Ave., off H Street.

Authorities were withholding the victims' names until family could be officially notified.

Metro Police have charged Shauntay Wheaton, 15, and DeAngelo Michell, 16, with the elderly couple's deaths. Both of the boys live within a few blocks of the crime scene. They were booked into Clark County Detention Center Wednesday and charged as adults.

"This is a senseless crime," said homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen. "The victim sold candy and sodas to neighborhood children, so it wasn't unusual for her to invite teens into her home. There was also no sign of forced entry, which is consistent."

Neighbors had seen two teens running from the house moments after hearing the gunshots. A patrol officer responding to a 911 call for help spotted two boys running a few blocks away on Lawry Avenue, where one was taken into custody and a large-caliber gun, believed to be a 9mm or .45, was found lying under a tree.

A Metro helicopter spotted the second suspect hitching a ride, and was able to direct another patrol officer to the car's location at Lake Mead Boulevard and LaSalle Street where the other boy was taken into custody.

It was unclear whether the boys had any money in their pockets that may have belonged to the victims. Petersen said robbery appeared to be the motive, although it wasn't initially obvious if anything was missing from the modest, single-story house.

Relatives and friends grieving outside the crime scene tape encircling the property guessed it was the few coins in a drawer that the killers were after -- the cash that Aunt Flora, as they called her, relied on to keep on hand her never-ending supply of sweets that flavored her "Candy Lady" nickname.

"I bet they were on their way to school and went in there to get the money," Patricia Green said when she heard where the victims were found -- one in the kitchen, the other nearby in the hall. "All the kids knew where she kept the money, right there in the kitchen where the candy was. She could barely walk, and he only had one eye."

Visibly distressed, Green said she dreaded having to tell the elderly woman's young nieces whom Green cares for. "They are not going to want to hear this. Everybody loved Aunt Flora."

A man who identified himself as the elderly woman's nephew was stunned when he learned the news about his aunt's death from a reporter after walking up Blankenship and seeing the black and white patrol cars double parked along the street.

"She would've given them anything they wanted," the man said of his aunt, his eyes reddened from tears as he turned to hug a family member Wednesday morning near the home. "The last time I saw her was Monday. I can't believe it."

Neighbors said teenagers had been responsible for a recent slew of trouble along Blankenship, including several burglaries, stolen hubcaps and vandalism incidents. The elderly man had also been victimized not too long ago, friends said, when an old car of his was lit on fire.

Blankenship Avenue also has been plagued with other crimes including drive-by shootings and gang activity.

Abram Bryant, 45, died in a hospital five days after being attacked June 17, 1995, near the intersection of Blankenship and LaSalle, a minute's walk from the Candy Lady's home. Later pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter were Primas King, then 15, and Tommy Deon Lindsey and Perry Williams, both 14 when Bryant died.