Megan Matteucci
Savannah Morning News - Savannah Now

A man initially charged with the theft of a Ford Taurus allegedly used in the Jennifer Ross homicide now faces murder charges.

Kevin Huckabee, 20, is the second man charged with murder and aggravated assault with intent to commit armed robbery in connection with the Christmas Eve shooting, Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police said. On Jan. 31, police arrested Michael Thorpe, 25.

Huckabee's arrest came late Tuesday night when detectives served him with an arrest warrant at the Chatham County jail, where he was being held on a theft by receiving charge and a probation violation, according to the Chatham County Sheriff's Department.


Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wilson declined to say what role the two men played in the Ross shooting, but said both are "principals in the case."

Interim Chief Willie Lovett said other arrests are expected.

"The key to solving cases like this rest with producing a domino effect, which shores up all the players," he said. "It takes time and a lot of teamwork, and we're not done yet."

The shooting occurred about 3 a.m. as Ross, 19, and three friends were walking near Barnard and Perry Streets.

The four, who had attended a Christmas Cotillion earlier in the evening, were heading to an apartment to call a cab when two men approached them.

One man struck one of the members of the group in the head with a pistol, according to a police report. The other shot Ross in the back after trying to grab her purse.

The attackers fled with two other men in a gray Ford Taurus, police said.

Ross was rushed to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where she died New Year's Day after suffering an aneurism.

Huckabee has been in jail since Jan. 14 when police linked him to the Taurus used in the Ross attack. The car was stolen from Savannah Toyota, detectives said.

On Jan. 12, officers seized the car from a Wheaton Street auto repair business and arrested a man for possessing the stolen vehicle.

Police have declined to identify that man, but said he supplied information to help advance the Ross investigation. He has not been charged in connection with the Ross case.

In June, Huckabee was released from the Rutledge State Prison in Columbus after serving two years for a robbery conviction, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.

Police released few details about the Ross investigation Wednesday, including how many other arrests are pending. (more - see article)


http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/020806/3633842.shtml

- The Ross Family -

- Jennifer with her Parents and Brother -

February 9, 2006 WTOC TV

The second man arrested for the murder of Jennifer Ross faced a judge today. Kevin Huckabee was arraigned on murder charges. Huckabee was already in jail for having the car used in Ross's murder. The judge denied bond.

Last week police arrested and charged their first suspect, Michael Thorpe, with murder. Huckabee and Thorpe's next court date is March 8th.

No one is watching the developments in this case closer than Jennifer Ross's mother, Coren Ross. She says she is happy police are getting her daughter's accused killers off the street. But that alone isn't enough. She wants them to stay behind bars. Both men charged with killing her daughter have long rap sheets and time and time again they've been allowed out of jail or prison and back into our neighborhoods.

Six weeks after Jennifer Ross was gunned down in Orleans Square, Coren Ross has found the strength to move forward and talk about the men who took her daughter's life. "I don't want another family to suffer as we are suffering," Ross said.

Police say the two men they've arrested thus far for Jennifer's murder--25-year old Michael Thorpe and 20 year old Kevin Huckabee--are career criminals.

Thorpe has been arrested eleven times before and a case just last summer where he was a key suspect in an armed robbery in Thunderbolt was thrown out. Huckabee just got out of state prison in June--he served two years for robbing someone.

"When they commit a minor crime and get put away for a little while it's just like sending them to grad school, you know. They go in there and hang out with people who did worse things than they did and they talk about that, then they are back on the streets with improved skills."

Coren says she can't help but wonder if her daughter would still be alive if these men were kept behind bars. "I mean you can't put someone away for life because they stole a loaf of bread. But I know things have to be done at an appropriate level but I mean yes, it infuriates me to think they've been caught so many times before and no one has been able to keep them from doing more harm."  (more - see article)

http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4483164&nav=0qq6

Associated Press - February 10, 2006

Michael Thorpe

Savannah, GA - A Savannah man charged with murder in the Christmas Eve shooting of 19-year-old debutante, Jennifer Ross, declared "I'm innocent" in a jailhouse interview published Friday.

Michael Thorpe, 25, told the Savannah Morning News that police arrested him in the slaying of Jennifer Ross because he refused to answer investigators' questions.

"I have no idea why they think I did it," Thorpe said. "Because I'm black, I'm guilty. I feel it's a racial thing going on."

A mugger shot Ross in the back in the city's downtown historic district hours after she danced with her father, a local hospital executive, at Savannah's Christmas Cotillion. She died from her injuries New Year's Day.

The slaying galvanized Savannah business leaders to call for a crackdown on crime. But the outcry over the death of a young white woman from a prominent family has been racially polarizing in city where most residents, and most murder victims, are black.

Savannah-Chatham County Police Chief Willie Lovett said Friday his detectives have enough evidence to link Thorpe to the slaying. He declined to be specific, saying he did not want to disrupt the investigation. (more - see article)

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/13840449.htm