Suspect in family slaying surrenders

Suspect in family slaying surrenders
Indianapolis police hold two men in killings of seven.

Published Sunday, June 4, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A man suspected of gunning down seven family members in their home surrendered to police yesterday, an Indianapolis homicide detective said.

More than 100 police officers searched for Desmond Turner, including unsuccessful raids at two eastside houses, since shortly after the Thursday slayings.

Turner, 28, grew up near the shooting and had returned last fall after being released from prison following a 3½-year term for drug and weapons charges.

Deputy Chief Tim Foley said investigators put pressure on people who knew Turner to ensure that they wouldn’t take him in.

"He didn’t turn himself in out of remorse. He turned himself in because he had no place to go," he said.

On Friday, police arrested another suspected triggerman, 30-year-old James Stewart, after a traffic stop. He was being held yesterday on a preliminary charge of murder, police said.

Foley said both Stewart and Turner were believed to have fired shots at the victims.

Foley said that although the decision of whether to pursue capital murder charges belongs to prosecutors, "If I was a betting man, I’d say there’s a high likelihood this is going to be a death penalty case."

Mourners laid flowers and handmade memorials along the fence of the modest home where the family was found slain.

The victims were identified as Emma Valdez, 46; her husband, Alberto Covarrubias, 56; their sons Alberto Covarrubias, 11, and David Covarrubias, 8 or 9; Valdez’s daughter, Flora Albarran, 22; Albarran’s 5-year-old son, Luis; and Albarran’s brother Magno Albarran, 29.

Neighbors, friends and others whose emotions were touched by the city’s worst mass murder in 25 years left flowers, ribbons, candles, dozens of stuffed animals and an angel statue along a sidewalk out front of the family’s house. Cars drove by slowly while people knelt to pray. A memorial service was scheduled to be held in front of the family’s home this evening.

"God shall bring justice to them, celebrate the way they lived, not the way they left us," read one note left atop seven red roses. "A good family is gone, but not forgotten."

Adults and children, many in tears, streamed through nearby Thomas D. Gregg Elementary, where David and Alberto had attended classes, to speak with grief counselors yesterday.

"The boys were very respectful of the school, good students and well-behaved," Principal Les Durbin told The Indianapolis Star. "They were very well-respected by their classmates and their parents were very involved in their educations."