Episode 181: Tweety Parker & CJ Toney

A pregnant teen and her 4-year-old cousin disappear, leaving their family and their community wondering if they will ever know the truth. What happened to Tweety and CJ?

Episode Media

Anquiaette “Tweety” Parker *(Serenity Memorial Chapel)*

Aerial view of Kevin Reid’s property in April 2008 *(Google Earth)*

Crime scene in March 2008 *(St. Louis Post-Dispatch)*

Episode Sources

Episode Transcript

Welcome back to Bite-Sized Crime. Before we jump into this week’s case, I’d like to say a special thank you to everyone who has supported this podcast over the last five years. When I started it back in July of 2021, my goal was to shed light on stories of missing and murdered people from all walks of life, people whose cases weren’t getting the attention they deserved. I might not have the reach and influence of bigger podcasters, but my hope is that I can use my voice to make a small difference in the world of true crime. Thank you all for being a part of that.

This week I’m bringing you a case that took nearly a decade to get justice. This episode discusses sensitive topics, so listener discretion is advised.

Anquiaette* Parker, known as “Tweety” to friends and family, grew up in East St. Louis, a city in Illinois nestled along the banks of the Mississippi River. Tweety’s extended family all lived in the area, and she grew up surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins. Everyone described her as sweet and caring, always willing to lend a helping hand.

In November of 2005, 19-year-old Tweety was living with her grandmother Daisy in East St. Louis. Tweety was eight months pregnant, and her boyfriend, 20-year-old Reginald Moses, had been in jail since July on armed battery charges. Tweety was grateful to have her grandmother’s support as she navigated these big life changes, preparing to bring a child into the world.

On the morning of Sunday, November 6th, Daisy woke up early and got ready for church. When she entered the kitchen, she saw Tweety sitting at the table, eating breakfast with her 4-year-old cousin, Cermen Toney, Jr. Daisy and Tweety were babysitting little CJ that weekend, something they did often. Tweety and CJ adored each other, and Daisy knew that CJ would be well cared for while she was at church. Daisy said goodbye to her grandchildren and headed out the door around 8:30.

When Daisy returned home at 3:00 that afternoon, Tweety and CJ were not in the apartment. Daisy figured that CJ’s mother must have come and picked him up, and Tweety was probably running errands or hanging out with friends. As night fell and Tweety still didn’t come home, Daisy wasn’t overly concerned. Tweety was an adult with her own car; she could stay out late if she wanted.

But the next morning, CJ’s mom LaToya called Daisy to let her know she was coming to pick him up. Daisy was shocked – hadn’t LaToya already picked him up the day before? LaToya said that she had come by on Sunday, but no one was at home; she had assumed that CJ was safe with either his cousin or his grandmother. But now, as the women compared stories, they realized that something was very wrong. Where were CJ and Tweety?

Daisy and LaToya called everyone they knew, asking if anyone had seen Tweety and CJ. From what they could put together, it appeared that Tweety and CJ had left the apartment not long after Daisy had gone to church. Around 10:30 that morning, Tweety had talked to her father on the phone, telling him that she was going shopping in Collinsville to buy clothes. She had promised to call him back later, but she never did.

The family spent the entire day driving around East St. Louis, looking around parks and stores, anywhere in town that Tweety might have taken her little cousin. They called local hospitals and police stations. They even stopped by Tweety’s boyfriend’s house to see if his family had heard from her. But they just kept coming up empty.

Finally, after exhausting all of their resources, Daisy and LaToya contacted the East St. Louis Police Department and filed a missing persons report. At first, investigators wondered if Tweety had abducted CJ and skipped town, but there wasn’t any evidence to back up that theory. Tweety loved CJ like he was her own child, and she had no reason to kidnap him. Besides, even with her own car, Tweety didn’t have the financial means to run away. She wouldn’t have been able to last very long on her own, especially with a young child in tow.

Police put out an alert for Tweety’s car, a black 1995 Ford Crown Victoria with Illinois license plates. It wasn’t long before they got lucky. Earlier that morning, police in the neighboring town of State Park Place had responded to a burglary at a local business. After the property owner gave his report, he asked police to tow away an abandoned vehicle that had been in his parking lot for several days. The car, a black Crown Victoria, was impounded and entered into police records. When detectives in East St. Louis reported Tweety’s car missing just two hours later, they got a match almost immediately.

It was now clear to investigators that Tweety had not abducted CJ; instead, it was likely they were both in grave danger. A statewide Amber Alert was issued, and the recovered car was sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for processing. There, forensic investigators found multiple spots of blood inside the vehicle. They also discovered a steak knife, two screwdrivers, and a license plate in the door pockets. In the backseat lay a bloodstained jacket.

Authorities began searching the area where Tweety’s car had been abandoned, a main road with many homes and businesses nearby. For several days, search teams scoured wooded areas while detectives knocked on doors. They searched the ten mile stretch between East St. Louis and the town of Collinsville, focusing on spots Tweety was known to frequent. But after four days of searching by ground and air, the community was starting to lose hope that CJ and Tweety would ever be found.

East St. Louis Police Chief James Mister told the press that they were not giving up. “As time goes by, you do become more concerned about their safety. But I have not given up hope that we’re going to find them alive. I just want the family to know that we are doing all we can to locate their loved ones.”

Investigators talked to everyone in Tweety’s life, trying to establish why she had left the house with CJ, where they might have gone, and who they might have run into. Tweety had told her father she was going shopping, but when investigators talked to Tweety’s boyfriend, they learned that she may have had a much different errand in mind that day.

Reginald Moses told investigators that while he was in jail, Tweety had taken over his list of customers, selling crack cocaine in order to raise money to get him an attorney. On the day she disappeared, Reggie had talked to Tweety several times on the phone. During one call, she told him that she and CJ were in the car, headed north on Interstate 255 to see a man in Collinsville. On a later call, Reggie heard a man’s voice in the background, but halfway through their conversation, Reggie’s phone privileges ran out. When he tried to call back, Tweety’s cell phone went to voicemail.

Based on the information Reggie provided, investigators now had a potential person of interest – the man Tweety had been planning to meet. If Tweety had indeed met up with him in Collinsville, he might have information about her whereabouts.

However, investigators weren’t about to put all their eggs in one basket. They continued to explore other avenues, including releasing a composite sketch based on a witness statement. Someone had seen a white man with dark hair wiping down Tweety’s black Crown Victoria in the parking lot. The sketch was circulated to local news outlets in the hopes that someone could identify him.

Illinois State Police wanted to cast a wide net, so they pulled all of the outstanding arrest warrants from St. Clair County dating back to 1999. Captain Craig Koehler told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the roundup might encourage someone to share what they knew. “We are hoping that if we pick up someone who is wanted that has information, the fact that they have a warrant on them, they may come forward with some additional information.”

But as days went by, investigators couldn’t shake the feeling that the man in Collinsville, the one Tweety had been planning to meet, was the key to the whole case. His name was Kevin Reid, and he and his brother Scotty had been longtime customers of Reggie’s. Kevin owned a piece of land less than half a mile down the road from where Tweety’s car was found. Based on this knowledge, investigators searched as close to the property as they could without needing a warrant. It wasn’t long before they found something in the woods near Kevin Reid’s land – a ladies’ denim jacket lying in the dirt. It was stained with blood and had holes in the fabric. A short distance away lay a blue sleeping bag, also stained with blood.

Investigators were now convinced that this wasn’t just a missing persons case, but a potential abduction and homicide. Unfortunately, they still didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. They had to keep searching for Tweety and CJ.

In a press conference on November 22, two weeks after their disappearance, CJ’s mother LaToya made a tearful plea. “I’m not giving up. That’s my son – that’s my heart, and I need him. My family needs him. Just please bring him back to me.”

Months passed, and investigators continued to search. They dredged a creek that bordered Kevin Reid’s property, combing through debris in the hopes of finding more clues. They brought out police dogs and conducted grid searches, while local postal workers distributed missing person flyers around the community. In April of 2006, DNA results from the car and clothing finally came back from the crime lab. The state police told reporters that it was a “positive development,” but they needed more. In July, after nearly 9 months of searching and gathering evidence, the State’s Attorney’s Office determined that they still didn’t have enough to make an arrest.

Illinois State Police Master Sgt. James Morrisey told the Post-Dispatch that, in spite of the setback, they weren’t going to stop pursuing the case. “Hopefully we will bring this to a resolution. Everybody wants to do what they can to get the bad guy, but we only have one shot.”

Then, in May of 2007, Kevin Reid sold his property. Investigators reached out to the new owner and asked him to contact them right away if he found anything of interest. Sure enough, not long after the sale, Tweety Parker’s driver’s license was found on the property. This was a major step forward for the investigation. Tweety and CJ had to be somewhere nearby.

Six months later, workers clearing brush on an adjacent property uncovered an old brick-lined cistern that had been used to collect rainwater. It had been buried under 10 inches of soil and covered with heavy wooden railroad ties, possibly in an attempt to hide it from view. Although it wasn’t technically on the old Reid property, the owner thought it might be important and reported it to the police anyway, since it was just a few dozen yards away from the house where Kevin had lived. However, though the discovery was noted, state police didn’t search the cistern until March of 2008, when yet another work crew came across it – this time accidentally running over it with a backhoe and breaking it open. When the workers peered down into the opening, they made a horrible discovery: multiple sets of skeletal remains.

Illinois State Police brought in crime scene investigators and forensic anthropologists to carefully remove the remains from the cistern. The large basin was approximately 6 feet in diameter and nearly 8 feet deep, and teams had to use tall search lights to see down into its depths. Once everything was removed, it was determined that there were three sets of remains: a young adult female, a small child, and a fetus. Dental records later confirmed the identities of Tweety Parker, CJ Toney, and Tweety’s unborn child.

With this tragic discovery, authorities finally had enough probable cause to move forward. Kevin Reid and his brother Scotty were arrested and taken into custody. According to court documents, the brothers had been lurking nearby, lying in the weeds and watching the crime scene excavation unfold.

Scotty Reid was released from custody without charges, but Kevin Reid was held without bond in the Madison County Jail, charged with two counts of first degree murder, one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child, and two counts of concealment of a homicidal death. The state announced that they would be seeking the death penalty.

While Kevin Reid sat in jail awaiting trial, a coroner’s inquest was held to determine Tweety’s and CJ’s cause of death. A forensic pathologist examined the remains and found that both had died from sharp and blunt force injuries. Tweety had been stabbed at least 23 times in the head, neck, and chest.

With the discovery of Tweety’s and CJ’s remains and the arrest of Kevin Reid, the family was finally able to move forward with their grief. Tweety’s father Gregory told the Post-Dispatch that they were grateful to have answers. “We’ve finally got closure. We don’t have to wonder now.”

Unfortunately, it would be another six years before justice was served. In March of 2014, Kevin Reid’s trial began at last. Multiple witnesses testified, including Reginald Moses, who told the jury that Tweety had taken over his drug deals while he was in jail, and that Kevin Reid was a frequent client. He testified that he had heard Kevin’s voice in the background the last time he had spoken to Tweety. Phone records confirmed that not only had Reggie spoken to Tweety on the phone that day, but so had Kevin Reid. After Reggie’s last call ended at 1:27pm, all of Tweety’s future calls went to voicemail.

Kevin’s brother Scotty also testified. He told the jury that Kevin had owned his property since the late 1980s, but he spent much of his time at Scotty’s apartment down the road. On November 6, 2005, Scotty had gone back and forth from his workplace to the apartment several times throughout the day, and each time, Kevin had been there. Scotty did say that he recalled seeing Kevin walk past his workplace – a nearby carpet store – at one point during the day, but he couldn’t say when. When Scotty finally returned home for the evening around 5pm, Kevin and a friend were smoking crack together in the apartment. Scotty said he didn’t notice anything strange about Kevin’s appearance or behavior.

However, other witnesses did. Becky, the friend who had been with Kevin at the apartment, testified that she had arrived there around 3pm. She noticed that Kevin had a small cut on his hand that was still bleeding. He told her that he had cut himself while making enchiladas. He also told her that he had purchased crack from Tweety Parker earlier in the day. Becky told the jury that Kevin had left the apartment at least twice in the time she was there – once to go to the carpet store and once to buy more crack.

Another witness testified that Kevin Reid allowed him to keep his dogs in the kennels on Kevin’s property in exchange for yardwork. The man recalled that one Sunday in November – though he couldn’t remember exactly which one – he stopped by the property and ran into Kevin who had blood all over his face. Kevin said he had been cutting tree branches. The man also recalled that he had seen a car he didn’t recognize parked nearby.

Surprisingly, Kevin Reid decided to take the stand in his own defense. His story mostly aligned with what Scotty and Becky had said, but he claimed he didn’t arrive at the apartment until noon. He told the jury that Tweety Parker had come by the apartment that day to try and make a drug deal, but he turned her down and she left. However, Kevin did admit that he had been in Tweety’s vehicle the day before she disappeared and had bought crack from her then. He also said that a few days before that, he had tried to fix her driver’s side door for her because she said it was sticking. He maintained that at no point had he ever driven Tweety’s car.

An inmate from the Madison County Jail then testified that Kevin Reid had confessed to killing Tweety and CJ. According to the inmate, Kevin told him that he had been angry at Tweety over previous dealings. He arranged to meet her at his property on November 6th, promising to trade cash and marijuana for crack, but when Tweety arrived, Kevin said he would pay her later. Tweety was mad and started yelling, which enraged Kevin. He then stabbed her with a screwdriver until she was dead, then left her car in a parking lot. When he learned later that investigators had found a bloody jacket in the backseat, Kevin was frustrated – he thought he had taken care of everything. The inmate testified that Kevin hadn’t said anything about where he had disposed of Tweety’s body, and he never mentioned 4-year-old CJ.

The prosecution relied heavily on the fact that Tweety had a clear connection to Kevin Reid, and that she and CJ had ultimately been found just 70 yards from his front door. They also leaned into the DNA evidence. Kevin Reid’s DNA was found on the trunk switch of Tweety’s car, and both his and Tweety’s DNA was found on the blue sleeping bag discovered in the woods behind the house.

In the end, the jury found Kevin Reid guilty of two counts of first degree murder and one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child. The judge sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole. So far, all of his appeals have been denied.

Tweety Parker was a young woman with her whole future ahead of her. She was preparing to bring her own child into the world, to begin a new chapter of her life. She had no idea it would all be taken away from her in the blink of an eye. She loved her cousin CJ, a bright, cheerful little boy who loved balloons and riding his bike. CJ deserved to grow up, to live a long and happy life. May Tweety and CJ’s family find comfort in their memory.

*Tweety’s given name is spelled differently in various sources and by various family members: Anquiaette, Anquinette, Anquiette, Anquianette.