Teen arrested in clerk slaying

It was the first homicide of 2009 and it was difficult to comprehend.

Laura S. Pierce, 42, did what two masked robbers asked of her, giving up the money in her Kwik Shop cash register.

She was shot anyway.

Now, police have arrested one of the men they believe was responsible for the Jan. 2 shooting at 3222 Q St.

On Thursday night at the state juvenile facility in Kearney, Tyrell D. Jones, 18, of 15329 Monroe St., was arrested on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Authorities said they don't think Jones was the shooter. Police still are looking for the second man.

Jones was brought back to Omaha on Thursday. He was in custody in an unrelated case.

Jones' mother, Vonda Jones, declined to comment on her son's arrest. His father, Richard Lampkin, couldn't be reached.

News of the arrest cheered the Rev. Glenn Harless, who was Pierce's pastor at Thanksgiving Lutheran Church in Bellevue.

“I'm so glad there has been an arrest,” he said. “That means there is potential for justice and that's something we have been praying for a long time.”

According to an affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant for Jones:

Video from the store shows two masked men enter, neither wearing gloves. They are seen touching the cash register till. Police took the till and drawer and matched a fingerprint to Jones.

Pierce was shot in the stomach and a bullet lodged in her vertebrae.

The two men fled from the store to a vehicle that was waiting nearby.

Police received a Crime Stoppers tip saying one of the men involved with the shooting was known as “Lil Lampkin” or Tryell Lampkin. Police later found that Jones used the alias “Lil Lampkin.”

Jones was arrested in late October on a criminal impersonation charge and was being held in the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Kearney.

Jones has told authorities that he is a member of a gang, the South Family Bloods.

Jones also was arrested in a May 2007 carjacking and robbery of a Pizza Hut delivery man.

In that case, police traced the phone call made to Pizza Hut to an apartment with about seven people inside, including Jones. There, police recovered the gun and clothing thought to have been used in the robbery.

However, the Pizza Hut delivery driver couldn't identify any of the robbers. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said prosecutors believed that Jones had something to do with the robbery but couldn't prove it.

Charges were dismissed, and Jones was released from jail in February 2008. The Juvenile Court retained jurisdiction over him because of earlier cases.

Pierce was described as a shy person with a good heart. She was known as quiet and thoughtful.

She grew up in Omaha and spent time riding bicycles with her cousins at her grandparents' house in Falls City, Neb.

After graduating from high school in 1984, Pierce studied business at Peru State College in southeast Nebraska and later moved to California. She worked for a dime store chain and soon decided she did not care much for California.

She moved back to Omaha, got married and then divorced. She settled by herself in an apartment southwest of 48th and L Streets.

In her free time, she enjoyed crocheting and shopping at discount stores. She loved her brown Chrysler LeBaron convertible, family members said.

After Pierce's death, her pastor said she had expressed concern for her safety after she started working nights at the Kwik Shop. She often spoke of finding a different job and moving to Falls City.

Pierce once told her aunt, Marilyn Capps, that she'd never fight back if she was confronted at the store by robbers. “She'd just give 'em the money,” Capps said. “And she did.”

Shortly after the shooting, Kwik Shop announced a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspects.

World-Herald staff writers Todd Cooper and Leia Baez-Mendoza contributed to this report.

Contact the writer:

444-1279, jason.kuiper@owh.com

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