Mother charged in shotgun killings of 2 children

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) - A criminal complaint says 25-year-old Yokeia Smith of East St. Louis is charged in the deaths of her 4-year-old daughter, Yokela Smith, and her 5-year-old son, Levada Brown...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois woman has been charged with first-degree murder in the shotgun deaths of her two youngest children.

A criminal complaint says 25-year-old Yokeia Smith of East St. Louis is charged in the deaths of her 4-year-old daughter, Yokela Smith, and her 5-year-old son, Levada Brown.

Investigators say East St. Louis police found the bodies of those children Wednesday in the family’s apartment. Their 8-year-old sibling escaped unharmed.

The mother was arrested later in St. Louis, where she’s accused of hitting two pedestrians with her car. Those victims were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE