June 16 (UPI) — Tallahassee police said Monday they have a man in custody in connection with the homicides of two women who went missing last week and were found dead.
The bodies of Oluwatoyin Salau, 19, a Black Lives Matter activist, and Victoria Sims, 75, a volunteer for AARP, were found Saturday night in southeast Tallahassee.
Police announced Monday that Aaron Glee, 49, had been arrested and was being held at Leon County jail on charges of felony murder and kidnapping.
Investigators from Tallahassee’s Violent Crime Unit did not give a motive for the crimes.
Both Salau, who went by “Toyin,” and Sims were considered missing-persons cases last week. It was unclear whether they knew each other.
Glee had been arrested for violent crimes twice within the last month and was free on bail.
Salau had been a prominent figure in Tallahassee’s Black Lives Matter demonstrations, reading names of people killed in police-involved violence until her family said she disappeared June 6.
“Now is a time to remember Toyin and all that she stood for, to share and spread her light, and to keep fighting against the injustices she so bravely spoke against,” a statement from the Tallahassee Community Action Committee’s executive board said.
“There is no justice that can be served that will replace my sister’s life,” her brother, Oluwaseyi Salau told the Tallahassee Democrat.
Sims was described as a grandmother and retired state worker, who volunteered for AARP and in local Democratic politics.
“Vicki worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others — as a dedicated advocate for older Americans; a committed volunteer for AARP, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Big Bend and other community causes,” the Tallahassee AARP said on its Facebook page.
The agency called Sims, “a devoted mother and grandmother and a passionate, fully engaged citizen, helping our nation to achieve its highest ideals.”
Salau and Sims were each last seen Thursday, but not together.
Friends and family had criticized Tallahassee police for not following up on a tweet June 6 that Salau had been sexually assaulted by a “black man” who offered her a place to stay.
“He came disguised as a man of God and ended up picking me up from nearby Saxon Street,” she tweeted. “I trusted the holy spirit to keep me safe.” Salau said in her tweet that she tried to report the attack to police, but could not give an address because she fled and had left her phone and other belongings in a church.
Glee was arrested May 28 for allegedly punching a man in the face after an argument at a bus stop. He was cited with a notice to appear in court.
Glee then was arrested the next day after an officer observed him kicking a woman in the abdomen. Glee claimed the woman had refused to give him oral sex. The victim involved in that incident was neither Salau nor Sims, police said.
Glee was also arrested in 2019 for marijuana possession.
