Police investigate 2 deaths in 1 weekend

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By GWEN TIETGEN and LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star

Police investigators worked Monday to sort out the details of not one, but two deaths in Lincoln over the weekend.

At 7:40 p.m. Friday, a neighbor called police after finding Sharon K. DeSantiago lying on the floor in her apartment at 1344 D St. She wasn’t breathing.

Shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, victims of a drive-by shooting stopped a police officer. One of the victims, 28-year-old Doyle H. Bryant III, had been shot in the chest and died.

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Police released few other details Monday on either of the deaths.

Police Chief Tom Casady said Bryant III, his brother, Daryl, 26, Lynell Green, 25, of Omaha and Laron Tolbert, 27, of Omaha had come to Lincoln to go to Opulence Ultra Club, 1033 O St.

Ultimately, the group didn’t end up going into the club.

Police had received calls to the club that night, including one for a disturbance, Casady said. The victims in Sunday’s shooting, though, are not believed to have been involved.

They left and at about 1:50 a.m. they were headed north on North 27th Street, with Green driving. They were being chased by another car, which police described as a gold Mercury.

Somewhere between Superior Street and Fletcher Avenue, several shots were fired from the Mercury. Three occupants of the car were hit, and they ran into a pole shortly after.

Green and Daryl Bryant were both shot in the left leg, Finnell said. They were treated and released from BryanLGH Medical Center West. A fourth passenger, Tolbert, was uninjured.

They turned around, in search of help, and at about 27th and Y streets came upon a police officer, who contacted medical help.

They were then taken to BryanLGH West, where Doyle Bryant died.

Police are still investigating whether anything occurred between the victim’s vehicle and the Mercury prior to the shooting.

Rev. Doyle Bryant Jr., Bryant III’s father, couldn’t be reached for comment. Doyle H. Bryant III leaves behind a wife, Ladionna. They were married in March 2004.

Officer Katherine Finnell said results from DeSantiago’s autopsy, including the cause of her death, were not in yet Monday afternoon.

Police said the 43-year-old had been dead for some time before she was found, and there were signs of a struggle.

Finnell described her death as a “possible homicide.”

According to a court case involving four of DeSantiago’s children, she and her husband, Raymundo DeSantiago, struggled with alcohol abuse and domestic violence, causing them to lose custody of the two sons they shared and DeSantiago’s daughter.

Allegations of child neglect followed, as well as years of case plans including therapy to address alcohol abuse and domestic violence, after she called police twice in 1997, first to report her 4-year-old daughter missing and the second to report her 6-month-old son had been kidnapped.

Both times, police found her intoxicated. The first time, her daughter had been in the house. The second time, her son had been taken by a family friend who felt she and her husband were too intoxicated to care for the boy.

“We are aware of the history between the two of them, and he is a part of the investigation,” Finnell said of Raymundo DeSantiago.

Within 10 days, Lincoln police are investigating more suspicious deaths or homicides than they have all year (28-year-old Doyle Bryant  III, 11-week-old Tori Stone, believed to have died as a result of Shaken Baby Syndrome, and a possible third, DeSantiago).

Said Casady: “Yes, we’re stressing police department resources with considerable work in investigations and the support work. We’re working hard and spending overtime.”

Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. Reach Gwen Tietgen at 473-7242 or gtietgen@journalstar.com.