ARREST IN O'KEEFE KILLING TEEN SLAIN IN PARK AND RIDE LOT.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - A former security guard long suspected of killing an Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. student at a Palmdale Park and Ride lot was arrested Tuesday on charges alleging that he murdered her. Raymond Lee Jennings, 31, who had been named in a civil lawsuit filed by Michelle O'Keefe's parents but had never been charged criminally, was stopped Tuesday morning while driving in Lancaster and arrested on a warrant accusing him of murdering the 18-year-old. ``They are happy and they are relieved. That would be probably be stating it mildly,'' Lancaster City Councilman Jim Jeffra said of Michael and Patricia O'Keefe, for whom he has been working as a private investigator. ``They have had a lot of anxious moments in the last five years.'' O'Keefe was found shot to death just after 9 p.m Feb. 22, 2000, behind the wheel of her blue 2000 Ford Mustang For other Ford Mustang models and concepts, see . The Ford Mustang is an automobile produced by the Ford Motor Company, originally based on the Ford Falcon compact.[1] in a Park and Ride lot on Avenue S. Its engine running and the driver's door opened, the car had backed out of a parking space and rolled over the edge of a small concrete planter planter, farm or garden implement that places propagating material such as seeds or seedlings into the ground, usually in rows. Broadcasting, i.e., scattering seed in all directions, by hand followed by harrowing (see harrow) to cover the seed with soil was an early . Jennings, who was on duty for a private security company under contract with the city, told investigators he heard gunfire and watched the Mustang mustang [Sp. mesteño=a stray], small feral horse of the W United States. Mustangs are descended from escaped Native American horses, which in turn were descended from horses of North African blood, brought to the New World by the Spanish c.1500. roll backward, but didn't see the killer because his view was blocked by a parked van. Jennings said he called a supervisor and waited for her to arrive before approaching the car. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to tell you, because everything points to me,'' Jennings said in a videotape videotape Magnetic tape used to record visual images and sound, or the recording itself. There are two types of videotape recorders, the transverse (or quad) and the helical. of a Sheriff's Department lie-detector test, released through the civil lawsuit. ``I can't believe this is happening.'' Prosecutors in the past declined to file charges, saying at the time there was insufficient evidence insufficient evidence n. a finding (decision) by a trial judge or an appeals court that the prosecution in a criminal case or a plaintiff in a lawsuit has not proved the case because the attorney did not present enough convincing evidence. , but cited new developments as a result of the civil suit. ``After re-evaluating the evidence in its current state, it was appropriate to file the case. The overall character of the evidence was different as a result of all the proceedings,'' Deputy District Attorney Robert Foltz said. ``I can't put my finger on precisely what the difference is, but it was clear we had a fileable case.'' R. Rex Parris, the attorney representing the O'Keefe family in the civil lawsuit, said his office gave prosecutors evidence from the civil case about six months ago. It included videotaped depositions taken of Jennings. ``We were able to present numerous inconsistent statements that he made. ... I think Jennings talked himself into a jail cell,'' Parris said. In April, the civil trial was postponed to January 2006 after it was discovered that Jennings, a sergeant in the Army reserve, was in Iraq. ``There isn't any doubt in my mind what happened. In the parking lot, there were two people. One died, the other went home, Parris said. Parris said Jennings' account of what he saw and didn't see didn't jibe with his description of where he was. ``When we did a reenactment re·en·act also re-en·act tr.v. re·en·act·ed, re·en·act·ing, re·en·acts 1. To enact again: reenact a law. 2. , I remember being struck that what he was describing was from the vantage point of where the victim was, not from where he would be as an observer,'' Parris said. Jeffra, a retired sheriff's deputy, said the family was relieved at the news of Jennings' arrest but didn't want to talk to the news media. ``I just got down talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to them. The best things in world for these folks is to sit down and catch their breath a little bit. They have a few friends around and that's what they really need,'' Jeffra said. O'Keefe's car had been parked at the lot while she rode with a friend to work as an extra during the taping of a music video for rapper Kid Rock. The gun that killed O'Keefe has never been found. In May 2002, members of a local scuba diving scuba diving Swimming done underwater with a self-contained underwater-breathing apparatus (scuba), as opposed to skin diving, which requires only a snorkel, goggles, and flippers. Scuba gear was invented by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan in 1943. club combed comb n. 1. a. A thin toothed strip, as of plastic, used to smooth, arrange, or fasten the hair. b. An implement, such as a card for dressing and cleansing wool or other fiber, that resembles a hair comb in shape or the murky bottom of nearby Palmdale Lake but turned up nothing. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Sheriff's deputies arrest murder suspect Raymond Lee Jennings on Tuesday. The suspect was captured as he drove in Lancaster. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) O'KEEFE |
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