The woman accused of killing the longtime girlfriend and unborn child of a former Chicago Bear was an aspiring model who took part in a number of photo shoots in the months before the killings, but ultimately it may be what she said that was more revealing than her pictures.
Marni Kay Yang was arrested and charged with murder in the shooting death of Shaun Gayle's pregant girlfriend, Rhoni Reuter, and her unborn child back in March. Prosecutors immediately said the brutal murder was a calculated plot fueled by jealousy.
Describing her as ambitious and driven, the photographer with whom Yang worked said she was clearly interested in the football player, and said he barely recognized the camera sky suspect with the unkempt hair in a jailhouse booking photo.
"I was in shock. I can't believe that this person might be capable of this," photographer Jason Stoller said, adding that the woman he knew never met a lens she didn't like.
Stoller said he sensed that Yang believed that she had a relationship with Gayle.
"She mentioned Shaun Gayle, that she was involved in real estate transactions with him," Stoller said, "And this is who she was seeing."
He said Yang never mentioned Reuter, but often talked about Gayle.
"She did indicate to me she knew Shaun was involved with other people. So obviously, it was clear it wasn't something exclusive," he said. "From what Marni said, it led me to believe they were intimate."
On their last shoot, Stoller said Yang arrived with a Bears outfit and a request.
"She specifically wanted to take some pictures in this outfit for Shaun," Stoller said.
Stoller said he called Yang after Reuter was found dead. He said Yang complained that police had confiscated her computer, which contained his pictures, and asked if he had copies so she could rebuild her modeling portfolio. He said she didn't seem concerned about the possibility of being arrested.
The next time he saw Yang was in her mug shot, and he said the face he had photographed for hours now belonged to a stranger he'd never seen before.
Gayle said he did not know about the photos and said he didn't learn about them until after Reuter's death that Yang had been telling people that he was her boyfriend.
"Any social time I spent with Yang outside of the real estate business could only be described as limited, casual and sporadic, at best," Gayle said.
Yang has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer did not return calls for comment.
