Pastor calls murder of Tai’raz part of ‘new evil’
Faith community may add to reward for info
Crime Stoppers of Michigan is scheduled to announce a $6,000 reward today for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the Oct. 1 triple homicide in Warren and Detroit.
Pastor Welt on Smith of New Life Family Church in Detroit is donating the reward money as part of Project Good Samaritan, a faithbased program initiated by Crime Stoppers, according to a news release. A news conference will be held at the church.
In an online video, Smith called the shooting death of 6-year-old Tai’raz Moore part of a “new evil.”
“I can’t sleep knowing whoever is capable of this is still walking around these streets,” Smith said in the video. “This wickedness is becoming normal. This is a new evil here.”
The reward will match a $6,000 reward offered by Detroit rapper Trick Trick, aka Christian Mathis. Other pastors and leaders are pledging to be at the conference to add their donations to this joint
reward, the news release stated.
The city of Warren has another $3,000 offered as an incentive to produce more tips to law enforcers investigating the horrific murders.
Warren police are conducting the investigation, along with Detroit police and the FBI.
The bodies of Isis Rimson, 28, his father’s girlfriend, and Tai’raz were found Oct. 1 fatally shot “execution-style” in the basement of a Warren home. The boy’s father, Tukoyo Moore, 32, was found dead a few hours earlier in a burned-out vehicle on Detroit’s east side.
The bodies of Rimson and Tai’raz were found in the basement of the 800-squarefoot home on Otis Avenue, in the area of NineMile and Dequindre roads on Warren’s southwest side.
Police had gone to the house to conduct a welfare check after the body of Tukoyo Moore had been found hours earlier in the back seat of a burning car on Detroit’s east side.
All three had been fatally shot in the back of their heads at close range, according to police.
Investigators say they believe illegal narcotics was a motive in the slayings.
Meanwhile, Mary Sheffield, president pro-tem of the Detroit City Council, will be part of a vigil this evening ias a tribute to the victims.
The vigil will be held at 6 p.m. at Erma Henderson Park, 8800 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit.