BETHALTO • The boyfriend of a woman found dead Saturday morning in Bethalto was charged Monday with murdering her.
Raamon V. Reed, 46, of the 4400 block of Gibson Avenue in St. Louis, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of concealment of a homicidal death.
Investigators with the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad said Monday they believe Reed fatally shot Tabatha Lynae Milton-Rush, 44, of St. Louis the evening of New Year's Day. Her body was found Saturday at the bottom of an embankment along Highway 255 about one mile north of State Route 140, police said.
Bethalto police Chief Gregory Smock said the arrest was thanks to the swift actions of the Major Case Squad.
"For a department of our size, we would not have done this without them, nor would we have wanted to investigate this without them," Smock said.
Police believe Milton-Rush was shot in the head somewhere else and then dumped in the embankment. Police also did not offer a motive but said Reed and Milton-Rush had been involved romantically for about a year.
Reed, who is jailed in lieu of a $1 million bail, turned himself in at the Bethalto Police Department early Sunday after learning police wanted to question him, police said.
Bethalto police responded to a call reporting the body at about 9 a.m. Saturday.
Reached in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday morning, Milton-Rush's stepfather, William Woods, said his stepdaughter was a "very good, loving girl."
"Her door was open anytime her friends or family had problems," Woods said.
He said Milton-Rush — who had two grown children of her own, and two grandchildren — was putting up several siblings and extended family at the time of her death.
"When Tabby goes to the grocery store, she always buys enough for 15 or 20 people," he said.
Until she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Milton-Rush also ran a daycare center on Natural Bridge Avenue, Woods said.
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