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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22,1995 GENERAL NEWS PRESS-REPUBLICAN PAGE 13 Teen pregnancy began victim's downward slide By STAN MILLER Associated Press Writer CHICAGO (AP) - She was an honor student from a religious family, but a teen-age pregnancy started Debra Evans' slide into a world of dim dance clubs, run- down apartments, welfare and babies with a succession of fa- thers. \I had a crush on her the first time I saw her,\ recalls high- school beau Dave Schrader. \She was really a beautiful girl ... a silly sense of humor. She was probably one of the warmest, nicest people I'd ever met.\ He said it was her first pregnancy — with another man — that began the downward drift that ended in a nightmare Thursday. Evans, 28, was slain in her suburban apartment along with her 10-year-old daughter, Samantha. Her attackers cut open her uterus with a pair of scissors and stole her unborn, full-term child, then abducted her 8-year-old son, Joshua. The boy was dumped the next day in an alley with his throat slashed. The Chicago Tribune quoted authorities as saying his captors had first sought tn poison him with iodine and strangle him because he knew too much. Another Evans child, 17-month- old Jordan, was left unharmed. Charged with murder and kidnapping are Jacqueline Willjams, 28; Fedell Caffey, 22; and Levern Ward, 24. Police say Evans knew them all and opened the door of her Addison apart- ment to them, apparently con- sidering them friends. Ward was believed to be Jor- dan's father. The boy taken from Evans' uterus, named Elijah as his mother had planned, was releas- ed Tuesday from Alexian Brothers Medical Center. \He's a perfectly healthy, normal little boy,\ said nursing director Judith Zoellner-Hunter. The crime was motivated by Williams' desire for a child of her own, authorities said. \You could not give a horror writer a better script,\ said Joe Birkett, chief of criminal prosecutions for the DuPage County state's attorney's office. Evans' horrifying end was in sharp contrast to the comfortable world she knew as a teen-ager in the nearby suburb of Roselle. But she and her parents weren't es- pecially close while she was growing up, said Schrader, 28, a coin and collectibles salesman who now lives in Minneapolis. Schrader said Evans and her parents drifted further apart when she first got pregnant, and again when she had another baby by a different father. \From my take, she had low self-esteem and was trying to provide herself with a family to love,\ Schrader said. \She wanted to be a full-time mom, but she just kept getting involved with the wrong guys and getting pregnant.\ Another high school classmate recalled her as faithful and trustworthy. \She used to baby-sit for my younger sister,\ said Paul Nevara, a detective with the suburban Lombard Police Department. \She was a very nice girl, extremely religious — she invited me one time to Keeneyville Bible Church, and she talked about church a lot.\ Schrader said he last saw her about three years ago, when she was living in a dismal apartment in suburban Hanover Park, tied to her growing brood of children and apparently unable to work. He said locks in the apartment were broken and furniture was sparse. He said Evans was sleeping on the floor. \It was really pretty slummy,\ he said. He had her locks repaired and -helped her make the apartment more comfortable, but he said she wanted to move to more wholesome surroun- dings. Her new neighborhood was not much of an improvement. \As soon as it turns dark, everybody comes oiit,\ said roofer Jeff Kraft, 20, who lives upstairs from M-s. Evans' apartment. \There's definitely drug activity going on.\ Kraft's girlfriend, Kelly King, 18, said she's afraid to come home at night because of menacing-looking men lounging near the building. \I think some- one's going to jump out at me,\ she said. For all the grim surroundings, Evans was making real strides to turn her life around in recent months, acquaintances said. She had returned to church, and residents of the apartment com- plex said she had been reaching out to help others who were troubled. \She was making a difference in people's lives in that building, 1 found out,\ Ms. Evans' father, Sam Evans, told the Chicago Sun-Times. 3-alarm fire erupts in Empire State Building; 22 hurt NEW YORK (AP) - A smoky three-alarm fire erupted Tuesday night in a lower floor of the Em- pire State Building when a trans- former exploded, the Fire Department said. Twenty-two minor injuries were reported. The first alarm was sounded about 7:10 p.m. but it quickly escalated to three alarms, said Adam Krause, a department spokesman. The fire was declared under control at 9:58 p.m., he added. • The fire was in an electrical transformer near the Merry Go Round Clothing Store in a sub- cellar of the building, Krause said. Firefighters got complaints about smoke rising as high as the 86th door so they, searched the entire building, said Lt. William Busch, a department spokesman. \The smoke condition was light to medium,\ Busch said. \Primary and secondary searches POLICE/FIRE LOG Environmental arrast MOIRA — Environmental Conserva- tion Police and State Police in Malone arrested a hunter early Sunday morn- ing on multiple charges involving a doer. Ciro J. Silvestri, 22, of Brushton, was charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling and dum- ping the deer's innards on the side of the road, both misdemeanors, as well as improper deer tagging and taking game prior to sunrise, both violations. All charges stemmed from the illegal shooting of the deer sometime between G a.m. and 7 a.m. Sunday. Police were tipped off after a resident called to complain. A brief investigation led to Silvestri's vehicle. He was tick- eted and is scheduled to appear Wed- nesday before Moira Town Justice John Slicrwin. Felony arrasts PERU — A Peru couple faces various drug-related charges. Harold Spooner, 38, and Karen Spooner, 34, were charged with sec- ond-degree criminal possession of marijuana, two counts of sev- enth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument. Harold Spooner was also charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, police said. Both were arraigned before Platt- sburgh Town Justice Ronald Brooks. Harold Spooner was sent to Clinton County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, and Karen Spooner in lieu of $5,000 bail. Both are scheduled for a felony pre- liminary hearing on Nov. 27, at 7 p.m. Fit. MALONE — A John Deere tractor on the Moore farm caught fire Tuesday afternoon. The tractor, owned by David Moore of Creighton Road, was parked in the barn Sally Drown, Moore's mother, noticed smoke coming from the barn and called the Malone Call Firemen at 5:28 p.m. \The tractor seemed to have had an electrical or overheating problem,\ Fire Chief Kevin Cappiello said. \Some hay caught fire on the floor of the barn, but Alan Lamica, a hired hand, had towed the tractor out of the barn with another tractor.\ Two engines, a tanker and 21 firefighters responded to the scene and had the fire contained within 15 minutes. Firefighters remained on the scene for a little more than an hour wetting down the hay and tractor to prevent the fire from starting again, Cappiello said. - Compiled by Staff Writari Mark Hollmer and Saul G. Farrar and Con- tributing Writer Brian E. Trombley Uh Friday jMovember 24, A995 /si oov\ to bpm City Hal! and Historic Downtown Pittsburgh Santa arrives by horse drawn buggy! Enjoy a sing-a-long on the steps of City Hall (or indoors, depending on the weather) /Ooem - A-pmi • FREE Photo Session in the Rotunda courtesy of the Chamber of Commerce, with \elf assistants\ from the RH.S. Honor Society. • FREE Hayrides on two beautiful wagons, with departures every 15 minutes from City Hall. Ride to the Famers' Market and browse for holiday gifts, wreaths, trees, and a variety of home-made goodies. Take the MacDonough Monument \Tour To The Top\ by City Historian, Jim. Bailey who will regale visitors with jnique tales of historic events. Children of all ages may visit the WCFE \Holiday Story- telling Corner\ in the City Court Chambers in City Hall, sponsored by the Press-Republican, with volunteer readers from the Seton Catholic Key Club. • FREE Face Painting by costumed clowns in front of the Common Council Chambers, hosted by \The Merry Ministers\. • FREE Refreshments will be served by the Sun Foods Employees' Association. Continuous Live Entertainment In The City Hall Auditorium Presented by the Plattsburgh Noon Kiwanis Club Noon & SPMi Stephen Gratto, magician, unicydist, and juggler 1 & 3PMi \Bob Shelley's Holiday Magic Show\ Dusk. I Gather on the steps of City Hall for a J commemorative tree-lighting ceremony, I accompanied by musical entertainment by theOLVA Childrens'jubilee Choir, sponsored by The AIDS Council of Northern f New York, with FREE refreshments immediately following in the Rotunda. This ad was brought to you by your friends at the have been made up through the 102nd floor and no people have been overcome with smoke.\ About 200 firefighters on 35 engines, trucks and other vehi- cles were summoned to the 102- story building, which was the tallest building in the world when it was completed in May 1931. Busch said 22 people had minor injuries. Seven were taken to Hellevue Hospital Center or St. Vincent's Hospital for treat- ment. The rest were? treated at the building-by Emergency Medi- cal Service technicians. David B o « k s t a v I; r , a spokesman for EK/IS, said eight girls visiting the city to march in the Maey's Thanksgiving Day Parade wen; among those who suffered minor injuries. the fun ! REMEMBER, MALL WIDE GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE DENOMINATION ARE THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY OCCASION Levi's Outlet Geoffrey Beene Carter's Childrenswear Genuine Kids Danskin The Eagle's Eye Van Heusen Direct Main Street Eatery Cape Isle Knitters Prestige Fragrance & Cosmetics Publishers Warehouse Windsor Shirt Company West port/ Westport Woman American Tourister Bass Shoe & Apparel I.B. Diffusion Florsheim Shoes Famous Footwear Leather Loft Welcome Home Famous Brand Electronics Kitchen Collection Dansk Corning Revere Factory Store Sunglass Hut on Harms L'eggs Hanes Bali Woolrich Springmaid Wamsutta MIROMAR FACTORY OUTLET CENTER OPEN SEVEN DAVS A WEEK. Mon. Wed.: 9:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. • Thurs. Sat.: 9:30 a.m. 9:00 p.m. Sun.: 11:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Champlain, New York Exit 42 off I 87. For more information: (518) 298 3333
