Vanessa Watson Banks found shot to death

A man and woman were found dead in what police say was a murder-suicide Tuesday morning in Nicetown. The pair were found dead shortly before noon in a Ford Explorer at Windrim and Wayne Avenues near the Wayne Junction train station, police said. The 26-year-old woman, who was in the driver’s seat, suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of her head, police said. The 31-year-old man, who was in the passenger seat, is believed to have shot himself in the mouth.
Police have identified the victim of yesterday’s murder suicide in the parking lot of the Wayne Junction train station.
Vanessa Watson, 26, of the 3700 block of North 18th Street in Tioga, was an aspiring model who went by the stage name Vanessa Banks. She walked the runway at New York’s Fall Fashion Week for designer Hally McGehean in September, recently participated in BET’s Rip the Runway and appeared in numerous photo shoots and music videos.
Police said Watson was shot and killed by Luis McCrea, who then turned the gun on himself. McCrea was a possessive lover, according to friends, and Watson’s ambitions threatened him. “She knew a lot of people in the industry and she was really getting out there. I think that was a hindrance,” Carr said, recalling an event at which Watson was unable to talk with him because McCrea was jealously watching her from across the room. “It was just really detrimental.”
Friends are currently planning a benefit fundraiser for Watson’s three surviving children.