Man ordered to stand trial in slayings of mother, sister

ALLENTOWN, PA. >> A man reported that he stopped taking psychiatric medicine weeks before authorities say he shot and killed his mother and sister outside an apartment building as a frightened 3-year-old boy “was running back and forth” between the two victims, a detective testified.

Zakiiy Carson, 35, was ordered Friday by a Lehigh County judge to stand trial on two counts of criminal homicide in the Oct. 28 shooting deaths outside the Allentown complex.

Detective Erik Landis testified Friday that Carson reported having argued with his mother, 52-yearold Latricia Ezell. He said the argument intensified after his 29-yearold sister, Ashley Campfield, arrived to pick up her 3-year-old son. Carson’s issue, the detective, said was the “perceived treatment” of his nephew.

Carson went outside to smoke a cigarette, but Landis testified that he pulled a gun after the women came out and shot his sister next to the rear door of the building, The (Allentown) Morning Call reported. The child fled toward his grandmother, and Carson then shot his mother, Landis said. The child then ran back to his mother, and Carson returned to his sister and shot her again, and she died partly inside and partly outside the building, Landis testified.

During this time, Campfield’s frightened son “was running back and forth between the victims,” Landis said.

Carson then called 911 and told dispatchers what he had done. He was interviewed by police hours after the shooting, said Landis, who called him “cooperative from the get-go.”

Under cross-examination from Carson’s public defender, Landis said Carson brought up his mental health history during the nearly two-hour-long police interview. He said he was being treated with an anti-psychotic medicine for schizoaffective disorder, but stopped taking it weeks earlier because of how it affected him, Landis testified. Officers recovered psychiatric medicine prescribed to Carson at the house, he said.