Siblings’ cousin calls shootings gang-related

The death of Jaleel Bell - whose chilling cellular telephone greeting states, 'I guess in the end, it all catches up with you' - may have been gang-related, his cousin said Monday.

Bell's sister, Rasheeda, may have been an innocent bystander who got caught in the middle of her brother's problems and died for it, said the siblings' cousin, Onita Tarrant Jones of Forest Hills.

Rasheeda, 22, and Jaleel Bell, who would have turned 21 next month, were gunned down Saturday afternoon inside her third-floor apartment in a quiet residential neighborhood in Swissvale.

The shootings occurred shortly after Bell and two people Rasheeda Bell never saw before came into the apartment, Jones said Monday.

While she cannot pinpoint any gang activity in which Jaleel may have been involved, Jones said she believes the shootings are related to recent shootings on Lincoln Avenue over the summer.

'It appears that way,' Jones said of the likelihood the shootings were gang-related. She also said it appears that Jaleel Bell, who periodically stayed with his sister, had been 'set up.'

Swissvale police Chief Dominic Nuzzo said the possibility of gang involvement is 'one of the aspects we've picked up on, and we're looking into it to determine if we may have anything beyond speculation.'

Allegheny County homicide detectives said they have no suspects or motive in the shootings.

County court records show that Jaleel Bell has prior convictions for carrying a handgun without a license and driving while intoxicated. They also show that his girlfriend obtained a protection from abuse order against him last year after she said he threatened to kill her.

When she obtained the PFA, the girlfriend told the court that Jaleel Bell 'had someone shoot at my dad and brother.' Police could not confirm last night if such a shooting took place.

The greeting on Jaleel Bell's cellular telephone, taken from the 1993 movie, 'Menace II Society,' indicates that he knew there was a possibility he would die violently.

'I done too much to turn back. I done too much to go on. I guess, in the end, it all catches up with you.

'My grandpa asked me one time, do I care whether I live or die. Yeah, I do. Now, it's too late,' the greeting ends.

It was not known last night if Jaleel made the recorded message or if it was recorded from the movie.

Rasheeda Bell was talking to her mother, Deborah Tarrant of Penn Hills, about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Rasheeda told her mother that Jaleel had just come into her Duquesne Avenue apartment 'with two guys she'd never seen before,' Jones said.

'They all came in together and I think they were going after him,' said Jones, noting that visitors had to be buzzed into the apartment and there was no sign of forced entry. 'The weird part is that she would have known his friends, but she didn't know who these strangers were who showed up with him that day.'

A short time later, Tarrant heard Rasheeda scream and the telephone line went dead, Jones said.

Police said the telephone line had been pulled out of the wall and the telephone itself smashed.

'Police told us that it looked like she was trying to run out when she was shot in the back,' Jones said of Rasheeda, whose body was found at the top of the stairs leading to the apartment.

Jaleel's body was found in the bath tub, where he was apparently getting ready to take a shower before going to see his girlfriend and 2-year-old daughter, who live in St. Clair Village. He was shot in the head and chest.

Police found spent shells and a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun in the apartment. Tests are being conducted to determine if it was used in the shootings or if it belonged to Jaleel Bell.

Tarrant - who told police it took her several hours to find a ride to her daughter's apartment - arrived at 11:30 p.m. Saturday. After she spotted her daughter's body, she went screaming to neighbors for help. Police found Jaleel's body.

Rasheeda and Jaleel Bell both grew up on Paulson Avenue in the city's Lincoln- Lemington neighborhood and attended Westinghouse High School in Homewood.

Rasheeda Bell had just moved out on her own in the spring and was working with a nighttime cleaning agency Downtown at the time of her death. She had previously worked as a security guard, Jones said.

Neighbors agreed that Rasheeda Bell was quiet, friendly and kept to herself.

'She was just a hard-working girl,' Jones said. 'All she did was work. She was never into any trouble. Rasheeda was definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who would think that someone would come into your house and do this• I definitely think it was a setup.'

Jones' mother and Tarrant are sisters-in-law, and the families grew up together.

'I'm the oldest cousin and I can remember (Rasheeda and Jaleel) when they were babies,' said Jones, who said the siblings have a 15-year-old sister who is 'devastated' by their deaths.

Jaleel Bell's girlfriend is expecting the couple's second child, Jones said.

Swissvale police and county detectives spent yesterday trying to learn more about the victims.

'We're hoping that friends or co-workers who haven't been in touch with us will call,' said county homicide Sgt. Thomas Glenn. 'Who they worked with, who they partied with. If we can learn more about who the victims were, hopefully from that we can learn who did this.'

Tom Jewell can be reached at tjewell@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8516. Staff writers David Conti and Pete Bishop contributed to this report.