Trying to come up with the right hand
By Jerome Burdi
Sun-Sentinel
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On the way to her friend’s house, a 15-year-old was shot in the neck and became a casualty of circumstance and timing.
She died three years later, in March 2007, from complications of the injury. Her case became one of 220 unsolved murders in the city.
Now Tiarra Meeks is the Four of Diamonds. She is one of 52 unsolved homicide cases featured on playing cards the West Palm Beach Police Department will distribute in Florida’s federal prisons.
Outgoing and funny, Meeks played drums in the church band and was an honor student. The shooting left her paralyzed from the neck down and she spent her remaining days in a rehabilitation center in Miami. Despite doctors’ evaluations, her family said, there were signs of hope.
Meeks started moving her arms again. She was taking GED classes and was determined to live.
Her killer has not been found.
“It hurts,” Wilson said. “She has sisters and brothers that really miss her.”
After the witnesses went mum, Wilson said, police told the family they couldn’t do anything.
Wadie Stephens is the Queen of Diamonds. She was driving back from dinner with her boyfriend in 2005 when a car pulled up next to them and opened fire. The 26-year-old mother of two was fatally shot.
“I’m dying to find my daughter’s killer, I’m dying for it to come to a close,” said Sheila Stephens. “We don’t really know what happened.”
She stopped visiting her daughter’s grave. She doesn’t want to remember her that way.
“My daughter was a happy, exciting person, so I cherish her in my heart. Everywhere I go I take her with me,” Stephens said.
The 5,000 decks were manufactured with $7,250 of money forfeited in drug and property cases, Detective Don Iman said.
The city has a total of 220 unsolved homicides dating back to the 1980s.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Palm Beach County and Heartland Crime Stoppers in central Florida’s Polk, Highlands and Hardee counties have all made similar playing cards.
Wayne Cross, director of the Heartland Crime Stoppers, said the cards, distributed in state prisons and local jails, led to six or seven homicide arrests. State inmates helped investigators solve two killings in Fort Myers and in the Manatee County area in 2004, according to FDLE.
Sgt. Jim DeFago, coordinator of Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers, said the 7,500 decks distributed in local jails since 2006 have not resulted in any arrests.
Cross said some of the tipsters wanted deals in exchange for their information but others just wanted to help. Some agreed to testify.
“They do it for varied reasons,” Cross said. “Some did not do it for a reward.”
One inmate who gave key testimony leading to a conviction in the Manatee County murder donated his $3,000 reward to charity, said Frank Brunner of Manatee County Crime Stoppers.
The idea for the cards came from the famous most-wanted cards featuring Saddam Hussein and other fugitives issued to U.S. troops shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Iman said he’s focusing on federal prisons because of a guideline offering reduced sentences in federal court for cooperation with authorities.
Staff Researcher Barbara Hijek contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 Sun-Sentinel Company