MALIQUE NICKERSON-STEENS - 7 yo (2010) / and his Father - Greensboro NC

Greensboro police are investigating the double homicide of a 7-year-old and his father.Stacey Nickerson discovered her boyfriend Marquise Steens, 28, dead at his 205 Guerrant Street home after 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. Police who were called to the home later discovered the couple’s 7-year-old son, Malique, dead.Greensboro police said both victims were shot to death.Shortly after the deaths were ruled homicides Sunday night, investigators said that there was no known motive.Nickerson, Steens, Malique and the couple’s two young daughters lived on Guerrant Street until recently, when she and the children moved in with her mother.Malique was spending the day with his father Saturday. Nickerson said she spoke to Steens on the phone at about 5 p.m., but later got nervous when she called again and Steens didn’t answer.She called the family next door to ask them to check on the house, but eventually went there herself when she couldn’t reach anyone, said neighbor Lucille Cagle, a family friend.“I just knew something wasn’t right in my head,” Nickerson said. “I found Marquise laying on my floor.”It wasn’t until emergency crews came that her son’s body was discovered, she said.Steens and his son had a tight bond, Nickerson said.“They were just a typical father and son. They were real close,” Nickerson said. “My son just always wanted to be around his dad. His dad always bragged about him.”Cagle said, “If they were here, they’d be out in the road throwing a football.”Malique was a budding athlete, who played on the Shiloh Baptist Church baseball team, served as quarterback for the Windsor Rams and dreamed of being a professional football player.“He loved football. He said he was going to make it when he was older,” Nickerson said. “He slept with his football. He took a shower with his football. He took it to school.”The victims were taken to Chapel Hill for autopsies, Nickerson said.
Greensboro police reported Sunday night that detectives were following up on leads in the deaths.They asked that anyone with information call Crimestoppers at 373-1000 or Detective T. Vaughan at 574-4041.

The mother of a 7-year-old old boy who, along with his father, was found shot to death in a Greensboro home Saturday said on Monday that she thinks her son may have been able to recognize his killer.Marquise Steens, 28, and Malique Steens, 7, were found dead inside a home on Guerrant Street.Malique's mother, Stacey Nickerson, who is Steens' girlfriend, says that she suspects that the killer knew her boyfriend and killed both to avoid being recognized. Malique was at the home, visiting his father for the weekend."I believe it was somebody that he knew, because who would do that to a child unless my child could recognize you," Nickerson said. "If someone did have something against him (Marquise), that had nothing to do with my child."Detectives said there was no evidence of forced entry into the home and no weapon was found. It also appeared that there were no witnesses to the slaying, police said.Nickerson said she and her mother discovered the crime scene."I walked to the back bedroom and Marquise -- my son's father -- was lying on the floor," she said. "He wasn't alert. My mother started screaming his name (and there was) no response."Nickerson said she then began feverishly searching for her son.
"The only thing that kept going through my head was, 'Where's my son?'" she said.Marquise was found in a bathroom, police said."I believe he was trying to hide," Nickerson said. "Because I have a walk-in closet in my bathroom. I really do believe he was trying to hide."Police said they are following up on leads, but so far no arrests have been made."I can't fully rest until I know what really happened and the person who did this hateful, hateful, hateful crime are captured," Nickerson said. "I believe somebody saw or heard something. I believe it."Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Crimestoppers at 373-1000.

Police are following up on what they described as promising leads in the homicides of a father and son found in a home over the weekend.As of late Monday, no arrests had been made in the deaths of 28-year-old Marquise Steens and his son, 7-year-old Malique, who were found shot to death just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 205 Guerrant St.“I feel we are making real good progress,” said police Capt. Janice Rogers on Monday afternoon.“We are working leads in all directions and continuously getting leads in Crime Stoppers. We aren’t going to quit until we make an arrest or exhaust all of our leads.”Stacey Nickerson found her boyfriend, Marquise Steens, dead at the home after not being able to reach him by phone. She called police, who found her son, Malique, dead inside the residence as well.Nickerson, Malique and the couple’s two young daughters had lived in the home until recently, when she and the children moved in with her mother.Malique was spending the day with his father Saturday, and Nickerson said she last spoke to him about 5 p.m.Rogers said detectives have not confirmed a motive in the case and have not ruled anything out.She said there were no signs of a forced entry, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility that a door or window could have been open, considering Saturday’s nice weather. She said that nothing obvious was missing.An autopsy has been completed on the victims, and Rogers said it didn’t provide any additional evidence beyond confirming they died of gunshot wounds. Malique was a second-grader at Falkener Elementary School.Laurie Hogan, spokeswoman with Guilford County Schools, said a 10-person crisis team consisting of administrators, social workers and counselors went to the school Monday to console staff and students who needed to talk about Malique’s death.Police have scheduled a canvass of the Guerrant Street neighborhood at 5 p.m. today in an effort to obtain more information. Organizers plan to meet at Guerrant Street and Phillips Park Drive. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.Malique was the starting quarterback for the Windsor Rams junior varsity football team.His teammates asked about him Monday night at practice on the field across the street from the Windsor Recreation Center. But like most resilient 7-, 8- and 9-year-olds, they kept playing.Malique’s coach, Namon Williams, said he and the other coaches were trying to comfort one another to deal with the loss.“It’s horrific. Oh my God, it just don’t even seem real,” Williams said, lifting his glasses to wipe his eyes.“You just look for Malique to pull up to the curb right now ’cause he’s always late for practice and he gets out grinning at you. We’d say ‘Come up, hurry up and get dressed.’ When he gets dressed, he gives you everything he’s got.”Sandra Simpson said her heart dropped when the coaches broke the news to her and the other players’ parents Sunday.“I’m the mom of four boys and if I lost one, my heart would break. That was her only son,” she said.“How could somebody be so cruel and take out a 7-year-old? I hope and pray they don’t have peace until they turn themselves in.”When Simpson’s 7-year-old son, Jeremiah, asked how his teammate Malique died, she left out the details.“I told him that some very cruel people did something horrible to a little boy,” Simpson said. “That’s why we got to stay prayed up.”The coaches and parents are planning a public prayer vigil on the practice field at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Malique’s family is expected to attend.The team will also wear decals with Malique’s initials and his number when they play for the Plum Bowl trophy at Jaycee Park at 8:45 a.m. Saturday.After the coaches made final announcements, they asked if the children had any questions.Nine-year-old Jayden Mack raised his right hand, asking, “Can I pray for Malique?”“I would love for you to pray for Malique,” Williams replied.Everyone bowed their heads and the kneeling players placed their little hands on each other’s shoulder pads.“God,” Jayden prayed, “please bless Malique where he is now. Keep him in a safe place. Keep him good.“Even though he’s in heaven, he still has his little ball up there. Let him keep on playing.”

The police department has pledged to use all its resources to solve the fatal shootings of a Greensboro man and his 7-year-old son.Officers went back to the area where the two were shot to gather more clues Tuesday afternoon.As of late Tuesday, no arrests had been made in the deaths of 31-year-old Marquise Steens and his son, Malique Steens, who were found shot to death just after 8:30 p.m. Saturday at 205 Guerrant St.“We’re not going to put it down until it’s solved,” Capt. Janice Rogers said. “We’ve made that promise to the community, and I mean it.”More than 50 police officers, crime scene investigators and department staff canvassed 130 to 150 homes Tuesday, hitting more residences than in the two previous sweeps.They knocked on doors and stopped cars traveling through the area bordered by Market Street to the north, Pine Street to the west, Nash Street to the south and Guerrant Street to the east.They asked neighbors if they had seen anything during a three-and-a-half hour window beginning at 5 p.m. until the police were called to the scene. Officers handed them fliers bearing photos of Marquise and Malique Steens and the number to call with more information.Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 373-1000.“We’ve asked the community — no matter how small it may seem to them, it may be a key piece of evidence for us — to give us a call,” Rogers said.Joseph Logan, who lives in the neighborhood, said he appreciated the police effort.“It just shows that they’re diligently on the job and they’re trying to do something,” he said.Logan said he was heartbroken about Malique’s death. Malique had been playing with his son, Josiah, and some other neighborhood boys at his house on Phillips Park Drive shortly before the child’s body and that of his father were found.Aumarius Morton, 10, said he last saw Malique between 4 and 5 p.m. at Logan’s house. The boys had been there since about 10 Saturday morning.Aumarius and another friend told Malique that they were leaving before 5 p.m. to go to Carowinds.“He said, 'Yeah, I guess I’ll just go home,’” Aumarius recalled. “We said, 'All right. Be safe.’ And then we left.”Malique was like a little brother, Aumarius said. They loved playing together.“If we would have stayed a little bit longer, then he’d still be alive.”Curtis Hudson, 63, Marquise Steens’ brother by adoption, said his brother had trouble with the law during the past 10 years or so, but he added he was a good father who was devoted to his kids.“His lifestyle wasn’t the best,” said Hudson, who recalled holding both Marquise and Malique as babies.Steens’ criminal record shows multiple convictions of common law robbery and one conviction of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.That charge came after Steens shot a man in the torso during a robbery attempt in December 2002.“I am hopeful he was trying to turn his life around for his kids,” Hudson said.“I don’t know what his last words were with God, but sometimes the past will catch up with us.”Hudson said his brother had trouble finding work because he was a convicted felon but had recently mentioned driving a taxi cab.“I hope he was actively looking for a job,” Hudson said. “I know he was all about (providing) for his kids.”

Arrests Made In Death Of Father, Son
Marquise Steens, Malique Steens Found Shot On Saturday
October 27, 2010

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Two arrests have been made in the shooting deaths of a father and his 7-year-old son last Saturday inside a home on Guerrant Street.

Arshaq Allah, 32, who also goes by Lenox Grant, and Cedric Cunningham, 33, have been charged with murder in the death of Marquise Steens, 28, and his son Malique Steens, Greensboro Police Chief Ken Miller announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Miller said a rape investigation on Orchard Street on Tuesday provided physical evidence that linked Allah to both crimes.

Allah was found hiding in a closet inside a home on Douglas Street, Miller said.

"In addition, detectives working with our forensics team located and examined a firearm that specifically connected Mr. Allah with both the rape and homicide scenes. Mr. Allah has cooperated with our investigation," Miller said.

Miller said Cunningham was arrested at the magistrate's office on Wednesday morning after he showed up to inquire as to why police were searching for him.

He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, first-degree rape, kidnapping, assault inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by felon.

Cunningham has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Miller said it appeared that robbery was the motive in the shootings.

"This case was solved through the hard work, long hours, dedication and cooperation of many police personnel, other agencies and members of our community. Every available and needed resource was attached to this investigation and worked collaboratively across patrol, investigative and support functions to bring quick closure to it," Miller said.

Read more: http://www.wxii12.com/news/25538250/detail.html#ixzz1Q2d3qhMS

Judge: Prosecutors can seek death penalty in father-son slayings

Monday, March 21, 2011


GREENSBORO — Prosecutors can pursue the death penalty for two men accused of killing a father and his 7-year-old son last year during a home robbery, a judge ruled Monday.

Arshaq Allah, 33, also known as Lenox Nathaniel Grant, and Cedrick Brian Cunningham, 34, both of Greensboro, face two counts of first-degree murder and one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon.

They’re accused of killing Marquise Steens, 31, and his son, Malique Steens, on Oct. 23, 2010. They were found dead at the father’s 205 Guerrant St. home by the boy’s mother, who had stopped by to check on them.

Allah also is charged with rape in a separate incident.

The rape victim told police that she knew Allah and that he bragged to her the night he allegedly assaulted her about killing a man and his son, Assistant District Attorney Kelly Thompson said Monday during a hearing in Guilford County Superior Court.

Thompson said Allah killed the father first, then made the son search the home for money or drugs. He then shot the boy so he couldn’t be identified, she said.

Allah told police that Cunningham was with him that day, she said.

Thompson argued the death penalty was warranted for both men because the deaths occurred during the commission of another felony — the robbery — and the crime was for monetary gain. She said Allah also qualified because he was previously convicted of a violent crime, a 1998 robbery.

The Steens robbery netted $150 in cash and $150 worth of marijuana, according to court documents.

Friends and family of the father and son sat behind the prosecutor, some of them refusing to look at the defendants as they entered and left the courtroom. One woman rocked back and forth while another rubbed her back as Thompson shared the details of the crime.

She described how Malique’s mother, Stacey Nickerson, went to the home because Marquise Steens had not answered his phone. She found him shot to death in the master bedroom but didn’t see her son. She thought maybe he was with friends.

It was emergency responders who found the boy, shot in the head, Thompson said.

“Ah, Jesus,” someone from the victims section whispered during Thompson’s summary.

Malique, a second-grader at Falkener Elementary School, loved football, his mother said in a previous interview. He was the starting quarterback for the Windsor Rams junior varsity football team and wanted to be a professional football player when he grew up.

“He said he was going to make it when he was older,” Nickerson said. “He slept with his football. He took a shower with his football. He took it to school.”

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/03/21/article/judge_prosecutors_can_seek_death_penalty_in_father_son_slayings#nrcAnc_Middle2_Jump