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5 slain in small Illinois town; girl survives

 
Published April 25, 2013

CHICAGO — After he shot his way into a home in the small town of Manchester, Ill., police say, Rick Odell Smith gunned down a great-grandmother, a young couple and three young children. Then he did something that puzzled authorities.

He scooped up one of the children, a 6-year-old girl who was still alive, and carried her to a neighbor's home. Then he jumped into his white Chevy Lumina and sped off. Police caught up with him hours later, and he died in a gunfight with officers.

The girl, Kassidy Ralston, remained in serious condition at a hospital in Springfield with facial injuries, according to family and a source who talked to the Chicago Tribune.

The girl's great-grandmother, her parents and her younger brothers all died in the rampage. While officials had not released their names, relatives identified them as Joanne Sinclair, 65; Brittany Luark, 22; her boyfriend, Roy Ralston; Nolan Ralston, 5; and Brantley Ralston, 1.

Smith, 43, shot the people with a shotgun at close range, police said.

State police would not comment on a possible motive. But a neighbor of Smith's said the gunman had been going through a custody battle with Sinclair's daughter over their 4-year-old child. Neither she nor the girl were in the home at the time of the shooting, according to authorities and the family.