Arrest made in slaying of PHA worker
When Rachel Barnes received the news that police had arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of her uncle, Rodney, she dropped to her knees and began to cry.
When Rachel Barnes received the news that police had arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of her uncle, Rodney, she dropped to her knees and began to cry.
"It's been very hard, but we've just been taking it one day at a time," Barnes, 30, said.
Jamaal Simmons, 26, of Philadelphia, was arrested in Whitehall, N.Y., about 2 a.m. Tuesday and is awaiting extradition to Philadelphia to face charges in the slaying of Rodney Barnes, 46, a carpenter for the Philadelphia Housing Authority, police said.
Barnes was shot in the head July 25 while working at the Raymond Rosen Manor housing project at 24th and Norris Streets in North Philadelphia and died Aug. 5.
Police suggested after the crime that the shooting may have been a case of mistaken identity.
On Sunday police obtained an arrest warrant for Simmons after they came to believe he was involved in the slaying, said Lt. Frank Vanore, a Philadelphia police spokesman.
He was arrested when a car he was riding in was pulled over in Whitehall and police ran his name through the national criminal database, which found his arrest warrant.
More in Wednesday's Daily News.