Maurice Clemmons' Alleged Get-Away Man May Get Charged with Seattle Cop Killings
Photo: Darcus Allen, left, appears in Pierce County Superior Court.
Now, they are considering charging Allen with aggravated first degree murder, which carries the same penalties as if he had shot the officers himself – life without release, or execution.
Allen, 38, one of six people who prosecutors say helped Clemmons avoid capture for two days after shooting four Lakewood police officers, appeared with two others in Pierce County Superior Court Wednesday Dec. 2.
Allen pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail after being charged with being a fugitive. Prosecutors say they are reviewing evidence to determine if they will upgrade his charges.
"We will prosecute everyone involved in this murder to the greatest extent possible," said Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist.
Investigators say Allen, who did time with Clemmons in an Arkansas prison, was the first among a network of friends and relatives who helped Clemmons avoid police during a frantic two-day manhunt.
Court papers filed Wednesday state that Allen eventually admitted to police that he drove Clemmons to the Forza coffee house where Clemmons shot to death Lakewood police officers Greg Richards, Tina Griswold, Mark Renninger and Ronald Owens.
Allen told police that he noted the police cars in the parking lot as he and Clemmons drove up and that he bought a cigar while waiting for Clemmons to return, according to court papers. Allen then told police that he sped away when Clemmons got back in the car with a bullet in his side but that he wanted no part in what Clemmons had done and bailed out of the truck at the first intersection, according to the court papers. But prosecutors dispute this sequence of events.
Along with Allen, two women also appeared Wednesday and were ordered held for 72 hours on $500,000 bail. Police say that Clemmons' friend, Quiana Maylea Williams, and his aunt Letricia Nelson gave him first aid and helped him change clothes and made arrangements to get him to other locations.
Wednesday's appearances brings the number of "helpers" to six, including two brothers, Eddie Lee Davis and Douglas Edward Davis, who are charged with rendering criminal assistance, and a third man, Clemmons' half-brother Rickey Hinton, was ordered held pending charges.
Clemmons, 37, was shot to death early Tuesday Dec. 1 by Seattle police officer Benjamin Kelly on a South Seattle street.