Rites today for three slain in St. Paul

By Howie Padilla, Star Tribune

Last update: March 30, 2007 - 8:23 AM

Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday at the Bradshaw Funeral Home, 1078 Rice St., followed by burial at Elmhurst Cemetery for Otahl Saunders, 31; his fiancée, Maria McLay, 32, and her 15-year-old daughter, Brittany Kekedakis. The three were shot to death March 23.

A reward leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the St. Paul triple homicide has ballooned to $22,000.

An anonymous donor contributed $15,000 to the reward, which began with a $1,000 donation from the St. Paul chapter of the NAACP.

Police said Thursday that they are continuing to follow up on more than 100 tips, including dozens since Wednesday night's meeting at the Rice Street branch library.

Saunders, McLay and Kekedakis were killed in their home on the city's North End when a group of masked men broke through a back door just after 6:30 a.m., reportedly looking for drugs and money.

Investigators do not believe the shootings were random, but they have not commented on possible links between the victims and their killers. At another community forum this week, Police Chief John Harrington said that preliminary indications hint at gang activity as a backdrop to the shootings.

Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call the police at 651-291-1111.

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