08-19-2010, 09:31 PM
$100. bill? i thought she was poor. she didn't work, but the kids were in daycare full time.
the older little boy had defensive wounds, he tried to fight the mommy who was murdering him.
she wanted to be free? she'll never be free again.
and her mother says don't judge her. (but do send money to help with funerals.)
Manager Renu Patel can't even go near Room 31 at the Trump Inn Motel in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
What happened inside is just too much to bear, she said.
At the end of the hallway, behind the maroon door with the number fixed above the peephole, is where police say Shaquan Duley pressed her hands over the mouths of her two toddlers and suffocated them. She is accused of then strapping them into their car seats and sending her car off of a boat ramp and into the Edisto River.
Duley's attorney cautions against a rush to judgment and says there's more to the story than meets the eye.
But Patel says she knows enough to make her want to avoid the scene of an alleged crime that has stunned her community.
"I don't feel like opening it right now," Patel said when asked about Room 31, the last unit in the single-floor complex. "Even if I just stand in front, I remember all that she had done to those kids because I am a mother, too."
Outside the room, remnants of police tape are still fixed to the door. Placed on the welcome mat are flowers and balloons, one an "It's a boy" new baby balloon, although it was changed to reflect that there were two boys: Devean and Ja'avan Duley, ages 2 and 1.
Patel put the mementos outside the room after police finished combing it for evidence Tuesday. Ever since, she says, she can't even walk to the back of the lot, much less venture inside the room where two young lives ended.
"I was shaking," Patel said. "That was anger on her, and I felt sad for the kids."
So she handed me a master key with the number 31 on it but said she couldn't go with me. Before she handed over the key, Patel said that nobody else had been inside besides Duley and police.
Inside the room, the scent of cigarette smoke lingered. Water slowly dripped into the rusted sink. A white sheet was still tightly fitted to the room's lone wooden bed, but the cover lay ruffled at the foot.
A pair of blue latex gloves left behind by investigators remained in a lone trash can. Most of the belongings inside were carried away by police in three or four brown evidence bags, Patel says.
The room hasn't been cleaned since police were there, and workers say they can't bring themselves to go inside, either.
Patel recalled that Duley seemed a bit nervous when she came to the motel window and inquired about a room early Monday morning, but she thought nothing of it. Duley paid with a $100 bill, and Patel never saw her with a car or her two children.
She was gone before check-in time, something Patel knows only because police officers first came to the motel, looking for Duley.
Patel, who has owned the motel since 1997, said she told officers that if Duley came back, she'd be sure to let them know.
"She's not coming back," one officer responded.
door to the room.
the older little boy had defensive wounds, he tried to fight the mommy who was murdering him.
she wanted to be free? she'll never be free again.
and her mother says don't judge her. (but do send money to help with funerals.)
Manager Renu Patel can't even go near Room 31 at the Trump Inn Motel in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
What happened inside is just too much to bear, she said.
At the end of the hallway, behind the maroon door with the number fixed above the peephole, is where police say Shaquan Duley pressed her hands over the mouths of her two toddlers and suffocated them. She is accused of then strapping them into their car seats and sending her car off of a boat ramp and into the Edisto River.
Duley's attorney cautions against a rush to judgment and says there's more to the story than meets the eye.
But Patel says she knows enough to make her want to avoid the scene of an alleged crime that has stunned her community.
"I don't feel like opening it right now," Patel said when asked about Room 31, the last unit in the single-floor complex. "Even if I just stand in front, I remember all that she had done to those kids because I am a mother, too."
Outside the room, remnants of police tape are still fixed to the door. Placed on the welcome mat are flowers and balloons, one an "It's a boy" new baby balloon, although it was changed to reflect that there were two boys: Devean and Ja'avan Duley, ages 2 and 1.
Patel put the mementos outside the room after police finished combing it for evidence Tuesday. Ever since, she says, she can't even walk to the back of the lot, much less venture inside the room where two young lives ended.
"I was shaking," Patel said. "That was anger on her, and I felt sad for the kids."
So she handed me a master key with the number 31 on it but said she couldn't go with me. Before she handed over the key, Patel said that nobody else had been inside besides Duley and police.
Inside the room, the scent of cigarette smoke lingered. Water slowly dripped into the rusted sink. A white sheet was still tightly fitted to the room's lone wooden bed, but the cover lay ruffled at the foot.
A pair of blue latex gloves left behind by investigators remained in a lone trash can. Most of the belongings inside were carried away by police in three or four brown evidence bags, Patel says.
The room hasn't been cleaned since police were there, and workers say they can't bring themselves to go inside, either.
Patel recalled that Duley seemed a bit nervous when she came to the motel window and inquired about a room early Monday morning, but she thought nothing of it. Duley paid with a $100 bill, and Patel never saw her with a car or her two children.
She was gone before check-in time, something Patel knows only because police officers first came to the motel, looking for Duley.
Patel, who has owned the motel since 1997, said she told officers that if Duley came back, she'd be sure to let them know.
"She's not coming back," one officer responded.
door to the room.