Megan Boken: Parents were chatting to volleyball star on the phone when she was shot dead in her car

'We were talking to our daughter when killers struck': Parents of volleyball star shot dead in her car in botched robbery reveal last phone call

• Megan Boken, 23, shot fatally in neck and chest in St. Louis on August 18
• Had travelled from Illinois hometown to play alumni volleyball match
  
• At the time of the shooting, she was speaking to her mother who became concerned when she heard an unusual noise and the phone cut out
• Sister arrived on the scene to find police tape and news trucks
• Two cousins, 18, charged with murder in botched robbery attempt
  

By Lydia Warren

Published: 10:34 EST, 31 August 2012 | Updated: 17:34 EST, 31 August 2012

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The mother of the former college volleyball star shot dead in her car during a botched robbery has revealed she was on the phone to her daughter when her killers struck.

Lisa Boken described the horrifying moment the phone cut out while she chatted with her daughter Megan on August 18, immediately knowing 'something isn't right'.

Her daughter, who graduated from St Louis University in Missouri last year, had been fatally shot in the neck and chest after returning to her college city for an alumni volleyball match.

Loss: Megan Boken (left) is pictured with her older sister, Annie Palazzolo, who arrived at the crime scene on August 18 to find her sister had been shot and taken to hospital, where she died

Megan, 23, was sitting in her car before driving to the game when 18-year-old cousins Keith Esters and Johnathan Perkins allegedly targeted her with the intention to steal her phone.

Her mother said she was chatting with her daughter when the men ambushed the vehicle.

'The last sound that came out, I didn't quite know what it was,' Mrs Boken, from Wheaton, Illinois, told the Chicago Tribune.

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She frantically tried to call her daughter back, but Megan didn't pick up.

'I'm a mom, I'm always worried. I felt at the time that... OK, something isn't right here,' she said.

Paul Boken immediately called their older daughter, Annie Palazzolo, who was also visiting St. Louis and asked her to go to the Central West End neighborhood where Megan had been visiting a friend.

Star: Boken, who had graduated in 2011, was in St Louis, Missouri to play an alumni volleyball match

Missed: Her father Paul Boken, left, has not been able to return to work since the murder of his daughter

Palazzalo arrived to find news trucks and police tape, and a detective took her and her husband, Joe, to the hospital, the Tribune reported.

The officer revealed very little of her sister's injuries - only that she had been shot - which led Palazzolo to fear the worst. Her sister was pronounced dead on arriving at hospital.

'I couldn't even cry,' Palazzolo said. 'I was just sitting there, holding on to my husband. You think tears are going to come, and nothing comes out. I thought for sure it was not her. It couldn't be her. This was all a mix-up.'

Her father said, a week after her funeral, he continues to struggle with the murder and has been unable to return to work. Megan also left behind younger sister Mary, 15.

Sisters: Megan, right, also leaves behind her 15-year-old sister Mary, left

Promise: Megan's funeral was held last week, where friends remembered her as lovable and determined

'These kinds of things don't happen to us. It doesn't happen to people in Wheaton. It was just so shocking,' he said.

His wife added: 'There's going to be a hole in our family that's never going to be the same.'

'I couldn't even cry. I thought for sure it was not her. It couldn't be her. This was all a mix-up'

Megan Boken's sister

The Bokens said they are unsure how adjust to life without Megan, who was a central part of family life after moving back to her parents' home following her college graduation in 2011.

She had started a gruelling job working for a financial adviser and, on the suggestion of her mother, had taken the summer off, allowing her to spend time with her family and train for a marathon.

After her death, hundreds turned out for her wake and funeral, distributing bracelets baring her name and remembering her as a determined but popular volleyball player.

The family has also been inundated with support, cards, bagels and lasagne from members of their community, with one friend saying there was enough food for a whole year.

Brutal: Boken was sitting in her car, pictured, talking on her phone when her attacker opened her driver's side door and fired multiple times at close range in a botched robbery

'Murderers': Keith Esters, 18, allegedly shot Megan in the neck and chest after he struggled to snatch her phone. He then escaped in a car driven by his cousin, Johnathan Perkins, 18

Police believe the 23-year-old was shot during an attempted robbery. Esters is accused of shooting her after he failed to snatch her phone. He jumped in a car driven by Perkins, police said.

Esters was charged with first-degree murder, attempted robbery and armed criminal action, while Perkins was charged with second-degree murder, attempted robbery and armed criminal action.

Boken's family said in a statement released after the suspects were arrested they were 'gratified with the progress in this case and with the efforts of the St Louis Police Department'.

Yet, speaking with the Tribune, they added that the arrests do not bring any resolution.

'Right now I just can't get over the fact that she's gone,' Lisa Boken said.

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