10-22-2014, 12:03 PM
UPDATES
Victims
![[Image: teairra.jpg?w=420&h=315]](https://cbschicago.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/teairra.jpg?w=420&h=315)
^ Teairra Batey, 28, had a fiance, a son, and a close family.
Two more of the seven known victims of Darren Deon Vann have now been identified. Teairra Batey, 28 and Christine Williams, 36. Batey and Williams were Gary residents, both are black females. The three other known African-American female victims have not been identified and police don't believe missing persons reports were filed on them.
How Vann was caught
Afrikka Hardy and her friend advertised prostitution services on-line at Chicago's Backpage.com. When the friend started receiving odd text messages from Hardy's phone, she sent a male friend to the Motel 6 where Afrikka's body was found. Afrikka's friend gave police the phone number of the man Afrikka had arranged to meet at the motel that night -- police quickly tracked it to Vann. Vann reportedly had Afrikka's phone when he was arrested.
All of the bodies thus far located had been dumped in abandoned homes within miles of each other. There are estimated to be 10,000 abandoned homes in Gary these days. Here is one of the homes where bodies were located:
![[Image: 357715_630x354.jpg]](http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wpvi/images/cms/357715_630x354.jpg)
Previous Conviction
Vann served four years for sexual assault in Texas, 2009-2013 .He reportedly tried to strangle the woman he raped, but was classified as "low risk" when released from prison. He is registered as a sex offender in Texas.
Vann had not registered as a sex offender in Indiana and did not have a criminal record in Indiana.
Motive / Crimes: Police reportedly don't have a motive for the killings at this time.
![[Image: article_update_img.jpg]](http://news.images.itv.com/image/file/501624/article_update_img.jpg)
Hammond Police Chief John Doughty ^ said Vann, 43, may be responsible for many more murders. LE in Indiana and Texas are revisiting missing person cases and looking for links. Right now, Vann is only talking about Indiana. He says he wants to be executed for his crimes.
Vann's background
Vann's lived in both Austin, Texas and Gary, Indiana over the years. He was a Marine who was honorably discharged before he was arrested for the aggravated sexual assault in Texas. He was married for 16 years to a woman who was 29 years his senior. She says he was never violent towards her or in front of her.
Vann's brother, Reginald Vann, said that Darren was arrested at their sister's house. Reginald released this statement:
To the victims, I’m sorry for their loss. I’m a father of two daughters myself. This comes as a shock to us and our household. I just wish all the best. This is a painful moment for us too. I just wish (them) all the best and I’m sorry for their loss. I just wanted to say something, man, they deserve at least that.
Refs:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../17598281/
http://heavy.com/news/2014/10/darren-deo...ika-hardy/
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10/20/s...t-indiana/
Victims
^ Teairra Batey, 28, had a fiance, a son, and a close family.
Two more of the seven known victims of Darren Deon Vann have now been identified. Teairra Batey, 28 and Christine Williams, 36. Batey and Williams were Gary residents, both are black females. The three other known African-American female victims have not been identified and police don't believe missing persons reports were filed on them.
How Vann was caught
Afrikka Hardy and her friend advertised prostitution services on-line at Chicago's Backpage.com. When the friend started receiving odd text messages from Hardy's phone, she sent a male friend to the Motel 6 where Afrikka's body was found. Afrikka's friend gave police the phone number of the man Afrikka had arranged to meet at the motel that night -- police quickly tracked it to Vann. Vann reportedly had Afrikka's phone when he was arrested.
All of the bodies thus far located had been dumped in abandoned homes within miles of each other. There are estimated to be 10,000 abandoned homes in Gary these days. Here is one of the homes where bodies were located:
Previous Conviction
Vann served four years for sexual assault in Texas, 2009-2013 .He reportedly tried to strangle the woman he raped, but was classified as "low risk" when released from prison. He is registered as a sex offender in Texas.
Vann had not registered as a sex offender in Indiana and did not have a criminal record in Indiana.
Motive / Crimes: Police reportedly don't have a motive for the killings at this time.
Hammond Police Chief John Doughty ^ said Vann, 43, may be responsible for many more murders. LE in Indiana and Texas are revisiting missing person cases and looking for links. Right now, Vann is only talking about Indiana. He says he wants to be executed for his crimes.
Vann's background
Vann's lived in both Austin, Texas and Gary, Indiana over the years. He was a Marine who was honorably discharged before he was arrested for the aggravated sexual assault in Texas. He was married for 16 years to a woman who was 29 years his senior. She says he was never violent towards her or in front of her.
Vann's brother, Reginald Vann, said that Darren was arrested at their sister's house. Reginald released this statement:
To the victims, I’m sorry for their loss. I’m a father of two daughters myself. This comes as a shock to us and our household. I just wish all the best. This is a painful moment for us too. I just wish (them) all the best and I’m sorry for their loss. I just wanted to say something, man, they deserve at least that.
Refs:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio.../17598281/
http://heavy.com/news/2014/10/darren-deo...ika-hardy/
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/10/20/s...t-indiana/