Credit: Tom Sofield LevittownNow.com
As the processing of the crime scene at the Avalon Court Apartments in Bristol Township continued Wednesday evening, search warrants obtained by LevittownNow.com reveal how investigators came to call Marcel Johnson, 21, a “person of interest” in Monday’s double murder and arson that claimed the life of pregnant Ebony Talley, 22, and her 4-year-old daughter, R’mani Rankin. (It should be noted that Johnson has not been charged with homicide as of press time)
Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler said Wednesday evening that no new information on the case is expected to be released on Thanksgiving and detectives from his office and the Bristol Township Police Department will continue to collect physical evidence from apartment 604 where the young mother and her daughter were found stabbed and burned.
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The district attorney did confirm Johnson was among the last people to see Talley and R’mani alive.
Two search warrants signed off by District Judge Joanne Kline at 1:35 a.m. on Tuesday shed light into the ongoing investigation. One warrant allowed investigators to collect DNA, hair, and under the fingernail samples from Johnson, who was arrested hours earlier at the Levittown Trace Apartments on Ford Road on a drug charge. The second warrant gavee police permission to search the 2003 Cadillac CTS Johnson was driving when he was arrested following a planned traffic stop. The warrant is to look for DNA, fingerprints, blood, cell phones, weapons, accelerates and other items in the maroon vehicle.
The following information was obtained from an affidavit of probable cause filed along with the search warrants:
Johnson was spotted by at least two witnesses at the Avalon Court Apartment complex on Monday. In a later interview with a detective, Johnson admitted to being the unit before the fire on Monday and taking the Cadillac he was arrested driving, police said.
Talley was found dead face down on the floor of the bedroom in apartment 604 shortly after 3:30 p.m. as a Newportville firefighter worked to extinguish the blaze. Shortly after, a Levittown Fire Company 2 fireman found the body of R’mani under an overturned sofa. He took the girl outside and she was rushed to St. Mary Medical Center, but it was too late and she was pronounced dead by doctors.
The 22-year-old suffered a stab wound to her left shoulder blade, under her armpit and two “defensive” wounds to her left forearm. The little girl had a laceration to her upper chest and suffered third-degree burns on her stomach.
Fire investigators said the injuries are “inconsistent with injuries caused by fire.”
Credit: Family/Submitted
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Within minutes of the first body being found, a small army of police had spread throughout the complex and were talking to residents and bystanders. A resident told police she saw a Cadillac CTS strike a car and speed out of the apartment complex in the minutes before the fire was discovered, according to court papers.
Just over two hours after the fire, police began surveillance on Johnson after speaking with friends and family of the victims. They found the maroon Cadillac and pulled it over around 7 p.m. when Johnson went to drive away. He was searched and found to have suspected drugs on him, police said in court papers. A detective noted in court documents the car had a different license plate than the one it was registered to have.
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Fire investigators said the start of the blaze appeared to be centered around bedding and clothing it the ground-floor apartment. A reader view exclusively obtained by LevittownNow.com and view by police shows a thick white smoke coming from the windows of apartment 604 in the moments before firefighters arrived.
Sources said at the time that Johnson was questioned by police following his arrest and detectives were seen entering and exiting the Bristol Township police evidence garage where the Cadillac was kept throughout the day on Tuesday.
Credit: Tom Sofield LevittownNow.com
Two sources close to Talley told LevittowNow.com early Tuesday morning that Johnson has a previous relationship with the murdered woman. The extent of which has not been released by authorities. Through social media, Johnson and Talley are also tenuously connected as they each appear on their Facebook friends list.
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Talley, according to sources and residents in the Avalon Court Apartments, is suspected of being connected to the local drug trade. When asked, police directed all questions to District Attorney David Heckler, who said he could not comment on the specific information.
Talley was convicted of conspiring to rob and recklessly endangering another person in August of 2013. She was sentenced to two years of probation in connection with the Bristol Township incident, according to online court documents. She was also charged with receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle in Philadelphia in 2007, which was later dropped.
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The Bucks County Coroner’s office has not yet released the results of a autopsy examination of the victims.
Johnson is in county custody on the drug charge and 10 percent of $50,000 bail.
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Publisher-Editor Jeff Bohen contributed to this report.
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