BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (AP) - A Missouri man was charged Monday in the fatal shootings of a daycare provider and her elderly parents in their Minnesota home, where authorities believe he'd gone to find a teenager who had accused him of rape.
Eddie Matthew Mosley, 34, of St. Louis, was being held on three counts of intentional second-degree murder for the April shooting deaths of DeLois Brown, 59, and her parents, James Bolden, 82, and Clover Bolden, 81. The victims had been shot multiple times inside Brown's home in Brooklyn Park, a Minneapolis suburb.
Police allege that Mosley believed the teenager was staying with Brown before she went to school and went to Brown's home to kill the girl. But the girl was no longer going to the house, where Brown operated a home daycare, according to a criminal complaint.
Authorities said Mosley knew all three victims. The Boldens were found dead on a bed, and Brown was found leaning over the bed, clutching her father. Investigators believe that Mosley held a gun against their heads or faces and shot each victim multiple times. A toddler who Brown was watching wasn't injured.
"It was an extremely violent crime, with three innocent people murdered inside their home," Hennepin County Sheriff's Maj. Kip Carver said. "We do not and will not tolerate such brutality."
Mosley's attorney in the rape case did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Authorities said they got a call about 6:30 a.m. on April 9 from a woman who had dropped off her toddler at Brown's home for day care. The woman noticed a man on a bicycle was about to ride into Brown's driveway but rode away when she went to the house, according to the complaint.
Worried, she called Brown. She heard a struggle and Brown say "stop," the complaint said. The woman told investigators that she went back to the house and saw the man leave, put something in his jacket and ride off. She followed him until he went out of sight, then returned to the house and found the bodies, the complaint said. The woman's child wasn't hurt.
Authorities said Monday that Mosley became a suspect shortly after the slayings. Police used information from cellphone towers to track Mosley from Brooklyn Park to St. Louis. They also spoke to a witness who drove with Mosley and told police he saw Mosley's face covered in blood.
Mosley is in custody in Minnesota's Wright County, where he is charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct for the alleged rape of a girl who was 14 at the time. Officials plan to bring him to Hennepin County to face the murder charges.
According to the criminal complaint in the murder case, Mosley knew the girl and her mother, and knew that the girl had gone to Brown's house before school. The girl's mother told police that in the days before the killings, she received calls and texts from Mosley indicating she needed to make the rape charge "go away."
The woman refused. She told police that Mosley did not know her daughter had recently stopped going to Brown's house each morning.
"We believe his motive was to ... kill the victim so she could not testify against him," Brooklyn Park Police Lt. Eric Nelson said. When asked if Brown and the Boldens also were targets, Nelson said: "We can only speculate as to who he intended to kill when he got to the residence."
Police said the investigation was ongoing.
Family members and friends said Brown's husband, Joseph, died of pneumonia in February, and her parents had just moved to Minnesota so Brown could help care for them. James Bolden had diabetes and used a wheelchair.
"Today is not a celebration for us, but another step in our quest for justice for the victims, the victims' family and their friends," said Brooklyn Park Mayor Jeffrey Lunde.