Grand Rapids police name 3 killed in Burton Heights

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Police have released the names of the three people found shot and killed in Grand Rapids’ Burton Heights neighborhood on Monday.

Malik Eubanks, 19, and 20-year-old Anayia Rodriguez were found dead in the morning. Darryl Yarber, 32, was found shot in the afternoon.

Police could not say for certain on Monday that Eubanks and Rodriguez had been shot, but an autopsy ultimately confirmed that was the cause of death. All three deaths have been ruled homicides.

Family recalled Rodriguez as loving, sweet and soft-spoken.

“We just want her remembered for the beautiful person she is,” a family member told News 8 on Tuesday.

‘Insane’: Three dead in Grand Rapids neighborhood in one day

Rodriguez was a graduate of East Kentwood High School, family said. She was a cheerleader in high school, flying in stunts and always doing cheer jumps. She previously worked at Holland Home as a dietary aid.

“Just a happy, loving child who was loved by everyone,” a family member told News 8.

But after graduating from high school, family said, Rodriguez started hanging out with a different crowd.

CHIEF: VICTIM’S YOUNG SON LIKELY WITNESSED KILLING

Eubanks and Rodriguez were found dead in the street shortly after 11 a.m. — Eubanks on Horton Avenue SE near Mellville Street and Rodriguez on Melville near Francis Avenue.

“At the same time that we were getting information about two bodies lying in the street, we got a call of an unattended child, about a mile away from that incident, covered in blood,” Grand Rapids Police Department Chief Eric Winstrom told News 8.

That child is Eubanks’ 2-year-old son. He was not hurt.

“Likely driving in a car with him. Because he was covered in blood, likely witnessed his father being killed and was right there when it happened,” Winstrom said. “An unforgivable act, in my opinion. I don’t think there’s any explanation that we’re going to get when we come to a conclusion on this that is going to lead us to think that there’s any justification for what took place yesterday.”

The boy is back in the care of his mother. Winstrom said witnessing their reunion was one of the few bright spots of the day for investigators.

Yarber found dead on Horton near Burton Street — about a block from one of the earlier scenes — around 4 p.m., by which time Winstrom said his crews had cleared the area.

A Jeep believed to be connected to Eubanks and Rodriguez’s deaths was spotted by patrol officers around 7:45 p.m. on Sherman Street SE near Dolbee Avenue, about 2 miles from where the shootings happened.

“We don’t know exactly what role it played or how vital a piece of evidence (the Jeep) is,” Winstrom said.

He said police have a lot of forensic evidence to process from the shootings scenes, where the little boy was found and where the car was located.

Police don’t know yet for sure that the morning and afternoon shootings were related to one another, though the chief said he suspects they were. He also stressed all three appeared to be targeted and there was not believed to be a threat to the public.

VIOLENT CRIME ‘NOT ACCEPTABLE’ TO NEIGHBORS

Detectives were back out in Burton Heights Tuesday, canvassing for more evidence. Winstrom called on anyone with information about or video related to any of the killings to call GRPD at 616.456.3400 or Silent Observer at 616.774.2345.

“There are people out there with information and we can’t be everywhere at once, so that information is extremely important to us,” Winstrom said. “A lot of murders happen inside a residence, where there are no witnesses, in the dark of night, etc. So for something to happen in broad daylight, in a neighborhood with a lot of residents out, we know there are witnesses, we know there are people with more information and we have been getting a lot of cooperation from the neighborhood.”

The chief said police would be “very vigilant” until the person or people responsible is caught and that neighbors should expect to see more officers than usual around in the coming days.

“We’re taking this extremely seriously,” Winstrom said. “I was down there with my boss, actually, the city manager, and a couple of the city commissioners today, going around the neighborhood, talking about the issues in Burton Heights, at least as far as a police perspective go.”

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He said neighbors have already demonstrated that they are passionate about keeping their community safe.

“Violent crime is not acceptable to them,” Winstrom said. “That community’s not going to tolerate it.”

He said his department, for its part, was committed to finding the people responsible.

“It’s not just about finding the killers and throwing them in prison — which I fully intend to do — it’s about sending the message that we hold life precious in this city, we are not going to ever become numb to gun violence here, we are always going to seek justice for victims,” Winstrom said.

He said adults can help make a change by teaching young people that guns are not the solutions to their problems.

—News 8’s Susan Samples and Byron Tollefson contributed to this report.

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