Veronica Baker was an intelligent and positive 17-year-old with hopes, dreams, and aspirations along with a bright future of unlimited possibilities laid out before her. However, on August 15, her dreams would come to a violent end after she was discovered dead inside the parking lot of a Bojangles fast-food restaurant in Raleigh, North Carolina. Police say that 17-year-old Devin Cordel Jones is the prime suspect in the shooting and has been charged with murder. Jones is currently being held in custody on an undisclosed bond. Police also arrested three other suspects on Tuesday, Nezyiha Zamir Collins, 19, Keyshara Michelle Deans, 19, and Tyreek Qumay Rogers, 18.
According to reports, Collins and Rogers are in jail, each on bonds of $500,000. Meanwhile, Deans has a bond set for $1,015,000 based on additional unrelated charges. The victim’s body was discovered dead in the front seat of her vehicle with the engine stile running. A passerby made an emergency call sometime around 8 p.m. when they noticed a girl inside her vehicle in the parking lot in a concerning position. On the audio from the 911 call, a person can be heard telling the dispatcher:
“There’s a car with the doors wide open and a girl is unresponsive. It doesn’t look like they’re breathing.”
Veronica recently graduated from Garner Magnet High School in June and had plans to attend Wake Technical Community College, where she would study online sociology classes.
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GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help support the teen’s family. On the page, Veronica is described as “a sweet, bright, young woman who touched the lives of many around her.”
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Authorities have yet to offer a motive for the murder, but Veronica’s dad, Jim, reportedly told sources that both she and Jones went to the same high school. He believes that she recognized him, and that’s why she allowed him into her car that night.
“She didn’t deserve to get shot and killed and left in a parking lot,” Jim Baker said.
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For more on this story, you can watch a news report in the video below.
