Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 14, 1993 TAG: 9312140212
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"He was a pleasant person," said Donna Ball, Cook's sister.
But police say the romance and friendship Hairston, 26, and Cook, 40, shared in past months ended tragically Monday morning when Cook was fatally attacked with knives and a baseball bat.
Monday afternoon, Cook's family and friends gathered in Ball's apartment trying to sort out what happened.
Police said Cook's body was discovered around 3:30 a.m. after a relative of Hairston's called police and asked them to check on Cook.
When officers arrived at her Windsor Avenue Southwest apartment, they looked through the Cook blinds and saw her lying on the foyer floor covered with blood.
A wooden baseball bat was on top of her body. Bloodied kitchen knives were found on the floor.
Police said Hairston told them he and Cook got into an argument that got out of control.
According to police, Hairston told them he had changed his clothes before taking Cook's car to Lansdowne housing project to purchase a couple of rocks of crack cocaine. Police said they found his bloody clothes in Cook's apartment.
When he was checked into jail, he had $2 in his pocket, police said.
Cook's slaying was the 11th this year in Roanoke, one more than in 1992.
Of the 11 slaying victims this year, seven were women. Boyfriends or husbands were charged in four of the deaths, and a male companion is a suspect in a fifth.
Hairston was arraigned on a murder charge Monday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 11.
Hairston told police he and Cook had been living with each other off and on since they met while working at Avante of Roanoke Health Care Center. Family members said Cook broke off the relationship about three months ago.
Still, she had arranged for him to be admitted to the Roanoke Memorial Rehabilitation Center after he had attempted to slit his wrist about a week ago, family members said.
Police said they were told that he recently had been released from the Rehabilitation Center. Police said they found a wound on Hairston's wrist following his arrest.
Family members said Cook had been working as a home health-care nurse after leaving Avante and was planning to attend school to become a registered nurse.
Her son, Jackie, 23, said the last time he saw his mother alive was Sunday morning, when she brought him a coat to wear to work.
On Monday, he remembered Hairston as someone with whom he used to watch basketball games on television.
Linda Buchanan, a family friend, remembered something else.
"He sometimes had mood swings," she said. "He would get pretty angry. But he wouldn't hurt anyone."
Staff Writer Laurence Hammack contributed information for this story.
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB