OH - Noelle Washington, 19, & 2 kids murdered, Pendleton, 1 June 2009

Tuesday the neighbors of Noelle Washington, 19, found her holding her 9 month old son Anthony Jones in her apartment. Both had been shot to death. Also in the home was a little girl that Noelle had been babysitting, 3 year old Sharailyn Wright had also been shot to death.

In March, the father of Anthony Jones, (also called Anthony Jones) had been shot ambush style, multiple times. He lived but is still suffering problems.

And the day before she died Noelle Washington has complained of being raped.

Police say that Anthony Jones (father) was not cooperating with LE in his own shooting until the news came that his son had been killed.

Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of Anthony Jones (father) in March. They are also investigating the same suspect for the rape of Noelle Wahington, the murder of Noelle Washington, the murder of Anthony Jones and the murder of Sharailyn Wright. But he hasn't been charged in the rape or the murders.


A man described as a “person of interest” in the fatal shootings of a woman and two children early Tuesday will remain locked up.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090603/NEWS0107/306020060/Pickens+held+on++850+000+bond

Prosecutors said a man named as a person of interest Tuesday in the deaths of three people raped one of the victims the day before her death.

Mark Pickens appeared in court Wednesday morning on charges of felonious assault and having weapons under disability, related to a March shooting that injured the father of a June 2 homicide victim.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/19644633/detail.html

Noelle Washington sat upright on a couch, her 9-month-old son cradled in her arms.


At her feet, a 3-year-old girl was sprawled on the floor, covered by a blanket.

All three were shot. All three were dead.

Snip.... Alice Washington, 64 of Springfield Township, described her granddaughter Noelle as having a tumultuous relationship with Pickens. The duo had been arrested in April on misdemeanor charges for stealing three boxes of Ziploc bags from a nearby Dollar General store. Pickens was sentenced to a month in jail, but that sentence was deferred. Noelle Washington was fined.


Alice Washington said Noelle was so fed up with Pickens that Monday she started packing her belongings. She planned to start life over with her infant son Saturday in Nashville.


“He had been messing with her,” Alice Washington said.


Officials with the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts said Tuesday that Noelle Washington had not filed for a restraining order.


http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090602/NEWS0107/306020029/Mayor+++Unthinkable+tragedy+

This article has a clearer picture of the background of the murders.

So the suspect is the same man who shot the husband/father? I'm concerned that this man wasn't picked up sooner. Or if he was, why was he let out. He almost killed a man and he was aware of the family and residence!


I just reread and it said he was arrested. I know the victim wasn't cooperating, did they just not have enough evidence?

Sorry if this is addressed in the article my laptop charger broke so I'm posting from my phone and can't access the site.

mysteriew said:

Noelle Washington sat upright on a couch, her 9-month-old son cradled in her arms.


At her feet, a 3-year-old girl was sprawled on the floor, covered by a blanket.

All three were shot. All three were dead.

Snip.... Alice Washington, 64 of Springfield Township, described her granddaughter Noelle as having a tumultuous relationship with Pickens. The duo had been arrested in April on misdemeanor charges for stealing three boxes of Ziploc bags from a nearby Dollar General store. Pickens was sentenced to a month in jail, but that sentence was deferred. Noelle Washington was fined.


Alice Washington said Noelle was so fed up with Pickens that Monday she started packing her belongings. She planned to start life over with her infant son Saturday in Nashville.


“He had been messing with her,” Alice Washington said.


Officials with the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts said Tuesday that Noelle Washington had not filed for a restraining order.


http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090602/NEWS0107/306020029/Mayor+++Unthinkable+tragedy+

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So the mom was dating the guy who shot at her baby's daddy? and now he is the POI in the 3 murders?

She was sitting there holding her baby boy with the little girl at her feet. How sad. I'll never understand why the children have to be killed too.

The guys probably didn't get along because one was the father of her baby and the other was the new boyfriend. Then she decides to get rid of the boyfriend and move and start over. Sounds like he wasn't about to let that happen. I wonder if she had reported the rape? It doesn't sound like she had. Maybe she was just waiting to leave town and be rid of the creep...poor girl.

Can't figure out why the boyfriend wasn't in jail for shooting the baby's father. The LE did say that the dad hadn't been very cooperative so maybe he didn't name the shooter until after mom and baby were murdered. If he had turned the boyfriend in or if she had reported the rape they all may still be alive. The boyfriend probably would have been picked up and arrested.

I wonder if the father didn't cooperate because he was trying to protect his infant son. Just speculation and thoughts, but what if boyfriend shots the father for whatever reason, then threatens that if dad cooperates with police, the baby will die? Father keeps his mouth shut out of fear for his child. Now that this guy killed his son anyway, he's singing like a bird.

Lyn1001 said:

I wonder if the father didn't cooperate because he was trying to protect his infant son. Just speculation and thoughts, but what if boyfriend shots the father for whatever reason, then threatens that if dad cooperates with police, the baby will die? Father keeps his mouth shut out of fear for his child. Now that this guy killed his son anyway, he's singing like a bird.

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The second article definately gives the best outline of the story.

Good guess. I wondered if perhaps the father of the baby might have been planning his own revenge? Or maybe he was attacked ambush style and didn't know for sure who had shot him.

I also wondered if maybe this was some type of gang violence with DV thrown in. The perp was just 19. One of the articles said that he had just been released from a juvenile facility last Aug. Sounds like he aged out of the juvenile system.

Bobbisangel said:

She was sitting there holding her baby boy with the little girl at her feet. How sad. I'll never understand why the children have to be killed too.

The guys probably didn't get along because one was the father of her baby and the other was the new boyfriend. Then she decides to get rid of the boyfriend and move and start over. Sounds like he wasn't about to let that happen. I wonder if she had reported the rape? It doesn't sound like she had. Maybe she was just waiting to leave town and be rid of the creep...poor girl.

Can't figure out why the boyfriend wasn't in jail for shooting the baby's father. The LE did say that the dad hadn't been very cooperative so maybe he didn't name the shooter until after mom and baby were murdered. If he had turned the boyfriend in or if she had reported the rape they all may still be alive. The boyfriend probably would have been picked up and arrested.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but that doesn't explain the three year old little girl. The little girl wasn't hers. The little girl was just the child she was babysitting. Too young to have been a witness against him. But killed anyway.

I understand the motivations (don't agree with, but understand there are some psych angles) for a parent killing their own child, for a stepparent killing their competitors child. But this child was so totally uninvolved!

I wondered if perhaps he made them gather on the couch, if perhaps he began by shooting the children, just to make her suffer before she died.

Noelle had a chance to text the 3 year old girl's mother and tell her there was a problem, asking her to pick the girl up. And the little girl's mother was the one who reportedly found the three dead.

This is one of the cases where I see so much evil and hatred.

A person has to have no heart to do something so cruel and heartless.

jnTexas said:

So the mom was dating the guy who shot at her baby's daddy? and now he is the POI in the 3 murders?

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Yeah. Sick isn't it?

The timeline as I see it is this.

He got out of juvie in Aug. 'O8
In Mar. '09 he shoots baby's Daddy
In May or June he is committing DV on the girlfriend and rapes her
In June he kills the girlfriend and two babies

He hasn't even been out of juvie a year.

This article has been updated

Pickens has spent much of the last years of his life either locked away or answering charges ranging from robbery with a gun to drug trafficking. His first run-in with the law was when he was 13.


Five serious arrests followed, all before Pickens was 18.


Records from Hamilton County Juvenile Court show Pickens has twice been to juvenile prison, most recently getting out in August of last year.


"He's one of the worst of the worst," said Hamilton County Juvenile Court Administrator Mark Reed, who has more than 20 years experience in the juvenile court system. "You don't see a lot of kids sent to the Department of Youth Services twice."
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090603/NEWS0107/306020060/Bond+set+at++850+000

Last page of this article, she did report the rape when she went to the hosp. on Sun. The alleged rape occurred at gunpoint.

Media interview with the woman who is the mother of 3 year old Sharailyn Wright -- Shay Shay for short. The mother was also the woman who found the three.



Lewis was the one who found her daughter dead, along with her friend Noelle Washington and Washington's infant son, Anthony Jones.

Lewis said she had been exchanging text messages with Washington in the hours before the killings. She told News 5's John London that Washington told her something had happened that day and she just felt something was wrong.

"It was my gut instinct to go. Something told me to go. Go get my daughter, go get my friend," she said.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/19658980/detail.html

Killer Sentenced to Death for Triple Murders
Last Update: 8:22 pm

A man convicted in the murder of a young mother, her baby son and a girl she was babysitting, has been sentenced to die. Mark Pickens received the death penalty for shooting his ex-girlfriend Noelle Washington, her 9-month-old baby and a three year old girl to death last summer.

The prosecution says Pickens killed Washington because she filed a rape charge against him the day before her murder. An inmate testified that Pickens told him the same thing. Pickens was convicted last Thursday.



A judge will decide whether to accept the jury's sentence on June 4th.

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More info in link: http://www.local12.com/news/local/s...or-Triple-Murders/iEgJCRW68E-rZsnEABiLnA.cspx

Thanks so much for the update, Riddinx. I can't imagine what kind of evil it takes to shoot 2 babies to death. I feel so sorry for the poor mother that found them all. How do you live with that image in your mind? And the judge had the nerve to scold her for kicking the door?