Neighbor charged with setting up killing

Published: July 3, 2009 at 12:19 AM

PHILADELPHIA, July 3 (UPI) -- A neighbor was charged Thursday with helping set up the killing of a Philadelphia party planner and her male companion.

Investigators said Katoya Jones, 25, was caught by security cameras letting the men who killed Rian Thal, 34, and Timothy Gilmore into the building where she and Thal both lived, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Jones has been charged with murder, conspiracy, attempted robbery and burglary.

Thal and Gilmore were shot dead Saturday in the hallway outside her apartment in the Piazza at Schmidt's, a high-rise in the trendy Northern Liberties neighborhood.

Gilmore, an Ohio resident, had a trucking business that was allegedly a front for drug dealing. Police found $100,000 in cash and more than 8 pounds of cocaine in Thal's apartment.

Security cameras caught the shooting, showing three men were involved. No one has yet been charged with carrying out the killing.

Police say the killers' intent may have been to rob Thal and Gilmore and not to kill them. After the shooting, they left the building without trying to get into her apartment.

A man who was in the apartment, believed to be working with Gilmore, left shortly after the shooting and has not been located.

© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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