62-Y-O Pastor Murdered; Younger Boyfriend 'Devil in Disguise' Is Charged
He was "the devil in disguise," Shameka Tukes said of her mother's alleged killer, David Chavell Monroe, 39.
Shameka's mother, Ruthene Tukes, 62, who leaves behind three children and six grandchildren, had been the pastor of End Times Revival Center Ministries in Jacksonville, Florida, for about four years until she became smitten with love for Monroe last June.
It had been just over a year since the death of Johnnie Tukes Sr., her husband of 42 years, and Ruthene was enraptured in her "second chance at love," Shameka, who used to play the drums in her mother's church, told The Christian Post.
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Church, however, stood in the way of that love so in June 2016, the lonely widow who didn't feel like it would be right to keep preaching while she explored her passion for Monroe made a decision. She left her small congregation of about 20 people "for a minute," Shameka said.
"My mom, she kinda took a step back from preaching because she had met this new boyfriend and she felt like preaching and having a boyfriend wasn't the right thing so she wanted to step back from it for a minute," Shameka explained to CP.
Ruthene had been known as a prophetess before love struck. Her spiritual gift is well known at several churches where she served as co-pastor prior, and the more than 200 churches around the world where she preached.
When it came to Monroe, however, Shameka said her mother was "blinded" even though she saw he was "bad news from the jump."
"He was bad news from the jump when we first met him but my mom was looking for love and a second chance. My dad had recently died. They had been together for 45 years, married for 42 of those years. So my mom was very vulnerable. She was lonely. And she wanted that companionship," Shameka said. "When she made that decision, we all respected it."
"My mom used to say that she wanted to marry him and he would say around here sometimes, 'baby, you gon' be my wife one day. I love you baby.' No, it was all bs. I seen clear through it," said Shameka, who was forced to watch her mother's life descend into living hell.
At about 12:55 a.m. on Tuesday according to the Tribune & Georgian, Kingsland Police Department officers responded to a 911 hang up call from an Econo-Lodge near I-95. Officers spoke with hotel staff and learned that a guest had called 911 to report a woman screaming for help. They figured out which room the screams had come from and found Prophetess Tukes lying on the floor. She appeared to have died from head trauma.
A blood trail later led them to Monroe and he was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder, in the prophetess' death.
"Everyone is devastated. We can't believe it. Not her. Not the person who would give you the shirt off their back," Shameka said of her mother.
There was a crowd in the Jacksonville home she had shared with her mother on Tuesday and she expressed regret as she wrestled with distractions and her grief.
While police have yet to provide a motive for her mother's death, Shameka said she had suspected Monroe was abusing drugs and she told her mother.
"My mom gave him somewhere to stay. I believe she was giving him money because he had an alcohol addiction and I thought that he was on some other drugs. And every time I asked about it she would say, 'no he ain't. I don't think he doing that.' But behind her back I believe he was on some dope," Shameka said.
"We tried to keep my mom from him and we couldn't. The more we tried, the more he was attached to my mom," she said.
As Monroe became more aggressive and abusive in the relationship, however, Shameka said he mother tried to leave him several times.
"She tried to leave him on other occasions where he tried to jump on her. He took her car keys to keep her from leaving and his mom knew all of this. His mom was scared of him. She didn't even want him to stay at her house. She wanted him to come back to Jacksonville to stay with me and my mom," she said. "He was being just aggressive and violent."
In December 2016, in fear for her life and the life of her mother, Shameka said she took out a restraining order against Monroe but her mother pleaded with her to drop it after just three days.
"My mom asked me to remove it because she loved him and she didn't want to block him from coming to her house," said Shameka. "Out of respect and love for my mom, I wanted her to be happy. I removed it."
In the weeks leading up to her death, Shameka said her mother was trying desperately to get back to her church and Monroe fought to keep her from going back.
"She had just started back, trying to get back into her ministry in the last few weeks. And when she started doing that, he (Monroe) got really more angry than what he usually was," she said. "He's the devil in disguise, yes he was."
"I believe that he killed my mom because my mom had been trying to get rid of him. And he was calling and calling and begging my mom to come see him. When she finally did go see him, I believe that she told him that this would be the last time you're gonna see me and he killed my mom out of hate for that," she said.
Even though her mother had walked away from the church, Shameka believes she is in heaven because she really loved the Lord.
"I say this, love is blind. My mom believed in Jesus. She believed in heaven. She took a chance at love and in the end it cost her her life. My mom was trying to help him. She wanted to save his life. She felt that she had more to offer than what he was giving and she truly thought he was gon' change," she said of her mother's lover.
