Shernell Pierre: Another Killing

[Adrian]

Much Media News about the killing of a nurse, Shernell Pierre. I hope her killer is caught soon. The police are very fast acting, RIP Sharnell


 By BROOKES MERRITT, SUN MEDIA
   

It's a paranoid fear many drivers have while rolling down a dark road at night: someone's hiding in the back seat, waiting to pounce.

Instances of car attackers lying in wait are rare, but such fears aren't irrational, a local safety expert said yesterday.

And considering Wednesday's killing of Shernell Pierre, he said it's important to remind people to be cautious in the darkness of night.

The 26-year-old Misericordia nurse was slain within 30 minutes of getting off shift and into her Toyota Corolla at 11 p.m.

"In a dark (parking lot) it's hard to know if someone is inside a car. Have a little flashlight and flash it in the back seat ... it just takes a second," said injury prevention expert Dr. Louis Francescutti.

"If you are in a facility that has security, always ask them to walk you to your vehicle."

UNLOCK ONLY DRIVER'S DOOR

Francescutti also advised unlocking only the driver's side door when approaching your car.

"Don't open all the doors at the same time to protect yourself in the event someone is bent over on the other side of the car, lurking."

Police said another person was in Pierre's car and that she was not killed by the fireball that later engulfed it.

The charred car - with Pierre's body behind the wheel - was found just south of 87 Avenue and 170 Street around 11:30 p.m.

A person was seen fleeing the scene and Pierre's purse was found discarded nearby.

Police have not said that they suspect someone was hiding in Pierre's Corolla, but such horrors do happen.

For example, in December, a Toronto woman was sexually assaulted by a teen hiding in her van, and another Ontario woman was jumped by a man hiding in her car in 2003.

In 2000, a Manitoba woman was carjacked by a man hiding in her back seat. And in 1992, a Toronto hooker was choked by an attacker hiding in the back seat of a john's car before she was raped.

A "safewalk" service is provided at the Misericordia where Pierre worked, Caritas spokesman Fran Ross said yesterday.

Ross could not say if Pierre used it or confirm whether the parking lot has video monitoring.

"Like any large facility we use all the standard safety practices. We are fully co-operating with the police investigation," Ross said.

Meanwhile, a close friend of Pierre's said many people are wondering if her killer knew her.

HOMICIDE NOT RANDOM

Police have said the homicide was not random and is not gang-related.

"She broke up with her boyfriend about two months ago and seemed very happy," said Darshani, who asked that her last name not be printed.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/03/17/pf-5027406.html

[Desespere]

My theory that nurse's are at high-risk is starting to look like it might have merit.

My lord, what a horrific thing. In fact, the intersection she was found near is the same intersection where the Miseracordia Hospital is located. The parking lot for Staff is in the back but they can exit from the front, onto 87 avenue and the first left or right is 170 street.

She was killed very quickly from leaving work.   

[Chris]

She broke up with her boyfriend about two months ago and seemed very happy

That might explain what happened here.

[Carol-Lynn]

      
March 18, 2008
Nurse was shot to death
Cops seek black man wearing dark clothing seen at victim's car before it was torched
By DANIEL MACISAAC AND NICKI THOMAS, SUN MEDIA

Shernell Pierre: Shot before car set on fire

Shernell Pierre was shot to death before her car was set ablaze, police revealed last night.

Cops are now looking for a black man in dark clothing, who was seen at Pierre's car shortly before it was engulfed in flames.

Asked if the man is a suspect, Edmonton police Det. Dennis Storey would say only, "we certainly want to talk to him."

Storey declined to give details of the shooting, including how many times Pierre had been shot.

Pierre's body was found inside the vehicle on 170 Street outside the Misericordia hospital Wednesday night, where she worked as a nurse. The following day her purse was found on a walkway at 176 Street and 87 Avenue.

Police are now asking people in the area to search their yards and alleys in case the gun used to kill Pierre had been dropped.
   

They said last night that other items, like clothing, might also have been discarded.

They're asking anyone who finds something suspicious to call police immediately.

Storey said cops have interviewed Pierre's ex-boyfriend, and at this point "haven't ruled out any suspects."

Pierre's death is painfully familiar to one Edmonton family.

"It's so similar," said Kendra Robinson, 21, whose sister Nadine Robinson-Creary, also a nurse, was found slain in her northside condo in July 2006.

And her father Vinton agreed last week's homicide forces him to think of his own daughter's death.

"Yes, it does," he said, laughing bitterly.

"It's not that we've forgotten it - it's at the forefront of our mind in the family - but when you see something like that ..."

Even more poignant, Kendra is friends with Pierre's older sister Jolin Thompson.

Both families come from the Caribbean, and Kendra said she met up with Thompson at a church event last weekend, just days after Pierre's death.

"She seemed OK," Kendra said. "I know she wasn't, but she seemed all right."

"I didn't even talk about (the homicide)," Kendra continued, "because I know how it feels - when it just happens and everyone's talking about it.

"So, I didn't even mention it to her."

Kendra said there's been no news in her sister's homicide investigation either.

Prior to her death Robinson-Creary, 36, had rekindled a rocky relationship with her husband Wayne Creary, following a 13-year separation, during which he lived in Jamaica.

And it was Wayne's son along with Robinson-Creary's brother Kevin who found her body.

Homicide Det. Pete Draganiuk confirmed for Sun Media yesterday that there are no new developments in the case - which he stressed is "near and dear to my heart."

"We only have suspicions and evidence that would suggest certain individuals," he said.

"But at this point that's not enough for a charge and certainly not enough for a conviction."

Draganiuk defended the department's policy of continuing to suppress the cause of Robinson-Creary's death.

He explained holding certain facts back helps police test the accuracy of the information, or even confessions, they receive.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2008/03/18/5036036-sun.html

Her pruse was found a fe wblocks from the seen with nothing missing,This makes me wounder if the guy who killed her was looking for drugs.

[Chris]

Or set up to look that way. Someone could have been paid to do this. I would still look at the ex, he probably was a nut job.

[solvy]

cl, this is truly scary... another nurse murdered with connections to a 2006 nurse homicide!  Called my sis tonight who is an lpn at the misercordia , but she only had heard that they were taking a close look at the boyfriend.  In my opinion they are heading in the right direction.  

[Adrian]

Cl, Were you not telling me, that a while back, there was a rapist working the parking lots of hospitals. And the nurses had to quit wearing their uniforms to their cars?

Two nurses, and apparently the families knew each other.I hope they find the guilty party soon, if done by the same person.

It is a good precaution to always check the back seat, always. Plus lock your car, even if you run into the corner store.

[solvy]

In todays news

n
Slain nurse's family still hopeful for justice

By CARY CASTAGNA, Edmonton Sun

Last Updated: February 18, 2010 12:52pm

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Shernell Sharon Pierre, 26, was found shot to death March 12, 2008. (Supplied)
    Shernell Sharon Pierre, 26, was found shot to death March 12, 2008. (Supplied)

As the second anniversary of the horrific slaying of an Edmonton nurse nears, her family says they haven’t given up hope that the killer will be brought to justice.

Shernell Sharon Pierre, 26, was found shot to death March 12, 2008, in her burned-out car on 170 Street near 87 Avenue after finishing her shift at Misericordia Hospital at 11 p.m.

“I just have to have faith,” said Pierre’s step-father, who was reached at the family’s Edmonton home Thursday but didn’t want his name published.

“They (police) have a suspect. I think they’re just waiting. Things take time.”

The step-father said Pierre’s mother is doing, “OK.”

No arrests or charges have been laid.

That’s despite police saying a year ago that they hoped the Crown, which was reviewing the case, would give investigators the go-ahead to charge the person they believe is responsible.

A nearly two-year-old posting on an Alberta-based blog identifies a man purported to be the killer.

Edmonton police spokesman Dean Parthenis could only say this week that the case remains under investigation.

Investigators revealed last year that the licensed practical nurse originally from the Caribbean island of St. Vincent was fatally shot, her car doused with what appeared to be gasoline, and her body burned — torn-out Bible pages serving as a wick to start the fire.

The case shares some similarities with the unsolved slaying of another licensed practical nurse, Nadine Robinson-Creary, who died nearly four years ago.

The 36-year-old, who worked at Royal Alexandra Hospital, was found dead in her townhouse near 139 Avenue and 32 Street on July 20, 2006.

No persons of interest have been identified and no cause of death has been released.

“I’ll never lose hope,” Robinson-Creary’s mother, Antonette Robinson, said Thursday. “It’s very hard on the whole family.”

She added that police still need more information to make an arrest.

“We just need someone to say something. That’s what we’re waiting for,” she said. “Police are just at a standstill right now, waiting for somebody to come forth. They don’t want to do anything until they have concrete (evidence).”

On the fourth anniversary of the slaying, the Robinson family is holding a barbecue at Rundle Park to celebrate Robinson-Creary’s life.

cary.castagna@sunmedia.ca

   

[SAP]

Don't mind me, I'm just a bit confused. Other than both victims being from the Caribbean area, I fail to see similarities at all.
I'm thinking that the SUN reporter inserted her personal thoughts.

[Desespere]

The similarities could also be they were licensed practical nurses.

[SAP]

Yes, that too. I was probably on a one track mind thinking about the way each was murdered.