DRUG BUST BAGS SHOOTER'S KIN

Agents Nab Grandmother, Aunts Of Kayla's Killer

The grandmother and two aunts of the boy who shot first-grade
classmate Kayla Rolland were in jail Friday after being arrested on
charges of dealing crack cocaine.

The 7-year-old's father, Dedric Owens, already jailed on an unrelated
charge, also was charged in the same federal indictment of one count
of distributing crack.

Police say the boy shot Kayla on Feb. 29 with a gun he found in the
house where his mother, Tamarla Owens, had taken him and his brother
to live after she was evicted from her home.

Tamarla Owens later admitted to environmental neglect, and her sons
and daughter were placed in her sister's care. Her lawyers struck a
deal allowing her to regain custody of her children if she met
conditions laid out by the state and the court.

Loys Marie Owens and her two daughters, Angela Owens and April
Hightower, were among 24 people arrested early Thursday during raids
at six locations in Flint, Genesee Township and Mount Morris Township,
according to Flint police.

Flint police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration pooled more
than 100 officers and agents to make the raids after a five-month
investigation, Flint Police Chief Trevor Hampton said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Haviland said Loys Owens and her
daughters were arrested at houses in Mount Morris Township. He said
both homes are less than a mile from the house where Tamarla Owens'
sons were living at the time of Kayla's shooting.

Police have said guns and drugs were in that house, which was occupied
by Tamarla Owens' brother, Sir Marcus Winfrey, and Jamelle James.

James, 19, is accused of leaving a .32-caliber handgun where the boy
could find it. He faces trial July 11 for involuntary manslaughter.
Winfrey, 22, pleaded guilty to possessing the stolen handgun used in
Kayla's shooting. He has not yet been sentenced.

Dedric Owens, his mother and sisters face at least five years in
prison if convicted of distributing cocaine, Haviland said. Their
sentences could be longer based on the amount of crack involved and
previous drug convictions, he said.