Feds Eye Hate Motive In Murder
The FBI is looking into whether the murder of a 73-year-old black woman on Maryland's Eastern Shore was a hate crime, or the effects of alcohol and road rage. Correspondent Gary Reals of CBS affiliate WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C. reports.
Two brothers face a preliminary hearing Tuesday for the Dec. 4 shooting of Germaine Clarkston. Police arrested 24-year-old David Starkey and 19-year-old Daniel Starkey Thursday in Millington on charges of first degree murder.
Police say the pair tailed the women's car for 21 miles late Saturday, flashing the lights of their pickup truck and honking the horn. Clarkston was struck in the hip by a shotgun blast fired at the car and died two days later.
The two other women in the car suffered minor injuries. The women had been driving home from a Christmas shopping trip in Delaware.
Sitting in the front seat next to Clarkston was Michelle Wilson, who was driving the car.
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| Michelle Wilson was driving the car when Clarkston was shot. |
"We were trying to make it home from a shopping trip," she told CBS News. "It was horrifying. It really was."
Wilson was wounded by a piece of metal that imbedded itself in her leg from the shotgun blast that just missed her and struck Clarkston.
"I hope they get the death penalty, actually, because it was no sense, no motive, no sense in it," she says.
Wilson said the only motive she could think of was that the men were angry that the women had driven too slowly.
The Starkeys were held without bond Thursday on charges of murder, attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment. They were arrested after police received a tip.
Both men are from Millington, where the pickup first began tailing the women after they shopped in Dover, Del. Wilson said the truck pulled up along side the car and three shots were fired.
Sheila Exum, Clarkston's great-niece, said her family had been turned "upside down." She added: "The family has no hatred towards these men."
While the FBI investigates the attack, local authorities say they will do all they can to bring justice to the family.
"We're going to continue to see that justice is done," said Kent County Sheriff John Price.
Ultimately, if the motive for the shooting is determined to be racial hatred, jurisdiction in the case would shift to federal prosecutors.