CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Four members and associates of a Bloods-connected street gang are charged with kidnapping and killing a reserve police officer whose body was found in the woods in Virginia, according to an indictment released Friday.
Five others were charged with gang-related crimes including racketeering, all stemming from the slaying of Waynesboro officer Kevin Quick, 45, who was found dead days after he was reported missing Feb. 1.
The four charged with Quick’s kidnapping and slaying are Daniel Lamont Mathis, 18; Shantai Monique Shelton, 24; and Mersadies Lachalle Shelton, all of Charlottesville; and Travis Leon Bell, 23, of Front Royal. They were also charged with the use of a firearm in Quick’s killing.
The indictment alleges all four were either members or close associates of the 99 Goon Syndikate, which is affiliated with the Bloods street gang.
David Eustis, attorney for Mersadies Shelton, declined to comment. Court records did not list an attorney for any of the other defendants.
The indictment identifies the Syndikate’s leader as Gert Arthur Lee Wright III, 23, of Manassas; also known as Halisi Uhuru and by a variety of nicknames including “Big Homey.” He has the word “Blood” tattooed on his face and was the gang’s highest-ranking member in Virginia, the indictment states. He is accused of destroying evidence and trying to shield the four charged in the slaying.
Anthony Darnell Stokes, 32, of Manassas, another gang leader, also attempted to shield the four accused in Quick’s killing, according to the indictment. Another defendant, Anthony Lee White, 22, of Louisa, was identified as a “soldier” for the gang.
They were charged with obstruction of justice and the destruction of evidence, among other charges.
The other defendants were charged with assault, assault with a dangerous weapon and use of a firearm in commission of a robbery. Those charges were related to a string of violent crimes in central Virginia.
The others named in the indictment were Leslie Hope Casterlow, 50, of Manassas, and Devante O’Brian Bell, 20, of Louisa.
The discovery of Quick’s body followed a massive investigation that ranged from the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains where Quick lived to a wooded area a few miles northwest of Richmond, where his body was found.
He was reported missing after he failed to show up to visit his girlfriend and their 4-month-old daughter.
Quick was a captain on the reserve force, on which he had served for 24 years.
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