Suspects in fatal shooting turn selves in to police
Two Washington men accused in the fatal shooting of one teen and wounding another earlier this month turned themselves into police Sunday.
Both Windale Barfield Jr., 19, and Karon Whitlock, 20, were taken into custody without incident, according to state police public information officer Rocco Gagliardi.
Barfield and Whitlock are accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Annalaya Wilkerson at about 11 p.m. April 13 in the 500 block of Jolly School Road, South Franklin Township. The other victim was a juvenile girl, who was transported to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Billie Jo Dawson, Wilkerson’s mother, said she was glad the two are off the streets, but their arrests do not bring much comfort.
“I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn’t,” Dawson said Monday. “There is no reason why they did this.”
Dawson had previously described the juvenile victim as Wilkerson’s best friend. Wilkerson, of Monongahela, was a senior at Ringgold High School with plans to go to culinary school after graduating.
“I feel like I’m living in hell, but I have other kids I have to live for,” Dawson said.
According to charging documents, Barfield and Whitlock picked up the victims at the Red Roof Inn in Canton Township prior to the shooting. Cellphone data allegedly places Barfield and Whitlock in the area of Jolly School Road at the time the shooting would have occurred.
The two were arraigned Sunday before District Judge James Saieva, who sent them to the Washington County jail without bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. May 10.
“I just want them locked up for the rest of their lives. That’s what they deserve,” Dawson said.