CINCINNATI — A 47-year-old man has been arrested for the murder of a mother of five last December.
Cincinnati police announced Willie Gordon was arrested and charged with murder, tampering with evidence and having weapons under disability in connection with the death of Tekeya McCollum, a 31-year-old woman found shot in the stairwell of a Walnut Hills apartment building.
Police found McCollum suffering from a gunshot wound in the stairwell of the Park Eden building at 2610 Park Avenue after a report of gunshots heard by building residents around 6 p.m. Dec. 23.
WATCH: This holiday week marks tragedy for one family in the Tri-State after a shooting at the Park Eden building
One Park Eden tenant we spoke with said residents heard an altercation occur on the building's fourth floor Tuesday night, then a gunshot and a scream.
"The biggest thing is having to explain to her kids — I mean, it's five of them — that you'll never see your mother again," her brother DeRonn McCollum said. "The biggest thing is the kids."
DeRonn McCollum said it unfortunately wasn't their family's first tragedy. In October 2024, McCollum's grandmother, Patricia McCollum, and her two adopted children, 32-year-old DJ and 11-year-old Kaydence, were found dead inside her home after a stabbing.
Police say Anthony Mathis, Patricia's son-in-law, stabbed the three. Mathis, 66, died from self-inflicted stab wounds at UC Medical Center after an hours-long SWAT standoff with Cincinnati police.
"I had went and connected with my grandmother spiritually yesterday," DeRonn McCollum said. "It was right before I heard of (the shooting), so I feel that (Tekeya) is in good hands, and we'll get through this."
