HEAV
12-29-2007, 01:54 PM
Authorities say they have a pretty good idea who killed Darrent Williams.
They also claim all of the men responsible are in jail on federal drug charges that could result in sentences of life in prison if they are convicted.
While some of those men are beginning to turn against each other, cutting plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimony, it remains to be seen when, or if, someone will be charged with the fatal New Year's Day shooting.
Police won't comment on whether they have recovered evidence such as the weapon involved. It's difficult to get a conviction if prosecutors are relying only on the word of a suspected drug dealer who got a deal to testify.
"No prosecutor is going to be content going to trial with only the uncorroborated word of a gang member who has made a deal for leniency," local attorney Scott Robinson said. "Not that you can't get a conviction, but that's a much more difficult task."
Williams was with friends at The Shelter nightclub at 1037 Broadway in Denver before he was killed. Witnesses and police have said that some of the people Williams was with got into a disagreement with a group of gang members who also were at the club.
Some, if not all, of those gang members were associated with a violent group known as the Elite Eight, police said. Authorities have said the group might be linked to as many as 10 other unsolved killings in the Denver area.
As everyone left the club, the argument spilled outside. Police said as many as three gang members got into a sport utility vehicle owned by Brian Hicks, who police describe as the leader of the Elite Eight.
Hicks was in the Denver jail at the time, on drug charges. But at least two other men, Daniel Harris and Willie Clark, were in the SUV when more than a dozen shots were fired from it, hitting the limousine in which Williams was riding, police have said.
Williams, who authorities believe was not an intended target, was shot in the neck. He was 24.
An attorney for Clark wrote in a court document that the 25-year-old was one of three suspects in the killing. But in letters to the Rocky Mountain News, Clark denied he was involved.
Clark, Harris, and Hicks are among about 80 people indicted in April after an 18-month drug and gang investigation. All three men, and many of the others, are charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs.
So far, two members of the Elite Eight who also were indicted have entered into agreements with prosecutors.
As part of their deals, the men must cooperate with ongoing investigations in exchange for the government's recommendation of a lighter sentence.
But the extent of their cooperation isn't known, and the government has said it could be months before motions that would affect the case are decided, meaning it could be a year or more before charges are filed in the Williams case, if that happens at all.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/29/murder-charges-still-not-a-certainty/
They also claim all of the men responsible are in jail on federal drug charges that could result in sentences of life in prison if they are convicted.
While some of those men are beginning to turn against each other, cutting plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimony, it remains to be seen when, or if, someone will be charged with the fatal New Year's Day shooting.
Police won't comment on whether they have recovered evidence such as the weapon involved. It's difficult to get a conviction if prosecutors are relying only on the word of a suspected drug dealer who got a deal to testify.
"No prosecutor is going to be content going to trial with only the uncorroborated word of a gang member who has made a deal for leniency," local attorney Scott Robinson said. "Not that you can't get a conviction, but that's a much more difficult task."
Williams was with friends at The Shelter nightclub at 1037 Broadway in Denver before he was killed. Witnesses and police have said that some of the people Williams was with got into a disagreement with a group of gang members who also were at the club.
Some, if not all, of those gang members were associated with a violent group known as the Elite Eight, police said. Authorities have said the group might be linked to as many as 10 other unsolved killings in the Denver area.
As everyone left the club, the argument spilled outside. Police said as many as three gang members got into a sport utility vehicle owned by Brian Hicks, who police describe as the leader of the Elite Eight.
Hicks was in the Denver jail at the time, on drug charges. But at least two other men, Daniel Harris and Willie Clark, were in the SUV when more than a dozen shots were fired from it, hitting the limousine in which Williams was riding, police have said.
Williams, who authorities believe was not an intended target, was shot in the neck. He was 24.
An attorney for Clark wrote in a court document that the 25-year-old was one of three suspects in the killing. But in letters to the Rocky Mountain News, Clark denied he was involved.
Clark, Harris, and Hicks are among about 80 people indicted in April after an 18-month drug and gang investigation. All three men, and many of the others, are charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs.
So far, two members of the Elite Eight who also were indicted have entered into agreements with prosecutors.
As part of their deals, the men must cooperate with ongoing investigations in exchange for the government's recommendation of a lighter sentence.
But the extent of their cooperation isn't known, and the government has said it could be months before motions that would affect the case are decided, meaning it could be a year or more before charges are filed in the Williams case, if that happens at all.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/29/murder-charges-still-not-a-certainty/