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A juvenile was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of a 59-year-old woman during a Memorial Day robbery.
The 16-year-old, whom police did not identify because of his age, faces a charge of capital murder in the death of Leslie Squair Baker and was being held in the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center.
Baker, director of marketing at the Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery, was found wounded Monday in the driver’s seat of a car in the 6100 block of Royalton Drive, in a residential area northeast of Royal Lane and Preston Road.
Officers responded around 5 p.m., and Baker was taken to a hospital, where she died, police said.
Police said Thursday that they determined the shooting occurred during a carjacking attempt, and they were able to link the 16-year-old to two other carjackings, in Dallas and Richardson.
Richardson police allege the teen took the keys to a black Mercedes at gunpoint just after 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of South Coit Road.
On Wednesday, police said, Dallas officers chased that Mercedes and eventually found the murder suspect and two others hiding in a shed in the 1100 block of Deerwood Drive in Red Bird. Police said they recovered two handguns, including the murder weapon.
The juvenile also will be detained in the carjacking, Richardson police said.
Thursday morning at City Hall, Police Chief U. Reneé Hall said that “it hurts to know that a child has committed such a heinous act, so now there’s two lives lost.”
The president of the Texas Health Center for Diagnostics and Surgery called Baker’s death “very difficult to understand and accept.”
“Leslie was part of the Texas Health Resources family for many years and had been in her current role since 2007,” Larry Robertson said in a written statement. “During her time here, she was a key member of our administrative team, known as an intelligent, fair and compassionate leader who kept the care of patients as her guiding light.”
Robertson said the center’s staff members were sending “heartfelt prayers, condolences and support” to her husband and children.
Baker’s daughter, Catherine Baker, wrote on Facebook that her mother was beloved by family and countless friends.
“She was a beautiful person with a glowing personality that will be remembered by many,” Catherine Baker wrote.