It’s been 12 years since a man walked into a suburban Lane Bryant store and murdered five women in cold blood, but even with the passage of time, police in Tinley Park are still receiving leads that they hope will guide them to identifying the killer.
“ Just last year we got 58 tips, which is astonishing knowing that the case is 12 years old it is very active in the public’s mind,” Tinley Park Detective Raymond Violetto said.
On the morning of Feb. 2, 2008, a man walked into the Lane Bryant store at 191st Street in Harlem. The man forced his victims to the back of the store then opened fire, killing five women. A sixth survived the attack by pretending to be dead.
Since the shooting, police have received thousands of tips, but they have not been able to identify or arrest a suspect in the case. A $100,000 reward has been offered for information in the case, and is not contingent upon a conviction.
Violetto says that the killing still haunts him, but he remains confident that a suspect will eventually be captured.
“I don’t know if it will happen by the time I retire, but I’m confident it will happen in my lifetime,” he said.
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For the families of the victims, the 12 years since the killings have done nothing to erase the pain that the shootings caused.
“Every year it gets harder, because someone who did this is still out there,” Maurice Hamilton, whose sister Rhoda McFarland was the manager at the store, said.
“My heart hurts. I get no relief.”
McFarland’s call to 911 brought authorities to the scene, and within a recording of that call the killer’s voice can be heard.
“What I want to know is that she wasn’t the only one there. It was six other people too,” Hamilton said.
In the meantime, police are hopeful that leads will continue to come in. A 3D composite of the suspect was released to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the killings in 2018, and has yielded more tips, but none have resulted in an arrest.
Despite those setbacks, Hamilton and other family members of the victims of the heinous attack believe that one day they will get the justice and the closure that they have sought for more than a decade.
“I know it will be solved. Anything is possible through God,” he said.
