Strippers kill good Samaritan
(From top left clockwise) Lauteshia Dotson, Ponesha Taylor, Brittany Curry and Johniesha Simmons are charged with first degree murder in the death of Ralph Cross Mississippi Co. Sheriff's Department

Four adult entertainers shot and killed a man after he helped change their flat tyre, police said.

The women were charged with first degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in connection to the 1 August death of 55-year-old Ralph Edward Cross.

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They were identified as 28-year-old Brittany Curry, 23-year-old Ponesha Taylor, 23-year-old Lauteshia Dotson and 19-year-old Johniesha Simmons from Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee.

The victim was seen with four women on the night of 31 July, witnesses told investigators. The women reportedly had a flat tyre and Cross offered to help.

Cross allegedly brought a new tyre for the women and let them stay in his home as he worked on their car. According to the New York Daily News, the women reportedly stayed in Cross' home until his body was discovered there Tuesday (3 August).

Investigators said the woman may have used a 9mm handgun to kill Cross. A 9mm shell casing was found at the scene of the crime but the handgun has not be recovered, investigators said.

Acting Mississippi County Sheriff Branden Caid said Curry shot and killed Cross, according to CBS-affiliate KFVS 12. Cross died of a gunshot wound to the back.

According to the Daily News, a witness claimed to have seen Cross early on 1 August arguing with three of the women, while the fourth say in a white vehicle outside the home. The witness said he heard a noise as he walked towards his home and saw the women leave Cross' home and enter the white car.

One of the women who was in the car reportedly told the witness Cross was "tripping and do not go back down there," the witness claimed.

The women allegedly killed Cross after robbing him, Caid said. Evidence, including ruffled couch cushions and turned out trouser pockets belonging to Cross, pointed to a robbery.

The four women turned themselves in to the Mississippi County Sheriff's Office on 3 August, after being convince by family and friends to tell their version of the events. Though the women admitted to being at Cross' house on 31 July and 1 August, none has admitted to the murder or told investigators what role they played in it.

Two of the women from Memphis told police that Curry had pulled the trigger and that Taylor had witnessed it. Curry, Taylor, Dotson and Simmons are being held in separate facilities without bond.