News Updates

[darrent/hero]

ok can i get the whole scoop? any1 in custody or ne thing?

[sbutk]

ok can i get the whole scoop? any1 in custody or ne thing?

Short answer: I don't think so, unfortunately.


...Maybe one of the board members who lives in Denver will be able to tell you more in the way of specifics.

[Denver Native]

ok can i get the whole scoop? any1 in custody or ne thing?

Anything and everything we have heard so far has been posted throughout this thread. And there is nothing new yet.

[BigBroncLove]

Big News Update. The DA's office will be taking Darrent Williams murder case to the Denver Grand Jury. Hopefully this will get those witnesses to open up and justice will no longer remian elusive. Good to see the DPD and DA's office are working hard still torward this case....

http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2793851&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1

DENVER --
The Denver District Attorney's Office has announced it is taking several unsolved homicide cases to a Denver Grand Jury, and Fox 31 has learned that the Darrent Williams case is one of them.

The 24 year old Denver Broncos cornerback was gunned down early New Year's Day near Speer and 11th Avenue, after an SUV pulled alongside Williams' limo and opened fire. Early on, investigators developed evidence that lead them to focus on a group of gang members, who had been in a confrontation with Williams' group at a nightclub.

But sources tell Fox 31 investigators have run into problems with witnesses who are reluctant to cooperate with police.

That is not uncommon in cases involving gangs, and Legal Analyst Larry Posner says a grand jury makes sense. "We don't know what's happening in the Darrent Williams case, it makes sense though that there are leads. And what the grand jury is probably going to do is take some people who've said no to the police and don't want to talk, maybe out of fear for personal safety or for other reasons and say 'We have a way of getting you to talk," he explains.

Posner explains a grand jury can compel witnesses to talk. It can also grant immunity from prosecution for some witnesses.

Posner says, "the grand jury can take reluctant witnesses and open them up to get the information that's inside of them and further the investigation."

Posner says grand juries can dig up information that police can use to push the investigation forward. They can also issue indictments and actually charge people with a crime.

Posner says, "The grand jury can develop information and hand it over to the police. I don't think the police have reached dead ends. I think the grand jury is simply the next logical step to solve this."

Grand Jury proceedings are secret.

As it is a Grand Jury hearing, expect less and less info to trickle out about the Williams case until they come to a decision. Hopefully justice is not far away for the Williams family.

[Denver Native]

Thanks for the post. This is good news. I have felt all along that everything was being done that could be done.

[BigBroncLove]

Thanks for the post. This is good news. I have felt all along that everything was being done that could be done.

Well one thing I would of liked to see after the death is a "heat up", or at least that's what my DPD buddy calls it. Flood the streets where this gang bases itself out of and press as many people as possible. Arrest dealers, drug buyers, everyone who normally would be doing business as usual and let them know, "We're gonna heat this place up until we get some info on this case. Until someone starts coming forward about htis case and gives us some information expect the police to make things very difficult in this neighborhood (difficult for criminals, not your average citizen)" That puts pressure on rival gangs or friendly people to these gang memebers who otherwise might not come forward. If there is one thing taht talks in that world IMO, it is money, and when you effect that, things happen for your case sometimes. From what I understand this was something the investigators did not do but they know their job better then I do.....

My understanding is in cities like MEmphis and NY and Baltimore, this method has turned many cases around within the first 72 hours. Unfortunately after that much time has passed, a "heat up" won't get much results.

None the less, it doesn't sound like they have been sitting around doing nothing, and I have faith in DPD's investigators, who are excellent IMO. This development is very promising IMO.....

[Denver Native]

I have heard that they are trying to connect this case to others - i.e. the same people involved, so hopefully they will put everything together.

[eaglebronco]

Grand jury eyes Crips in unsolved slayings

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Grand jury eyes Crips in unsolved slayings


Investigators say gang involved in as many as 12 killings, including Bronco

By Bianca Prieto, Rocky Mountain News
March 29, 2007

A Denver grand jury is investigating violent gang members suspected in a number of unsolved homicides, including the brazen New Year's Day drive-by shooting of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams.

The grand jury inquiry follows an ongoing investigation into a segment of the Crips gang believed to be involved in a growing drug trade.

Investigators have determined that gang is associated with at least seven killings throughout the state, and maybe as many as 12, according to a source familiar with the Crips probe.

The homicides have occurred in the metro area, as well as in the western and southwestern portions of Colorado.

"It's much broader than just Darrent Williams," the source said.

Denver prosecutors declined to provide any specifics, but spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough confirmed Wednesday that "the resources of a Denver grand jury are being utilized in a number of ongoing investigations related to unsolved homicides."

She made the statement as a result of frequent media questions about the status of the Williams investigation. When asked on Jan. 22, her office said no grand jury was hearing testimony in the challenging case.

There are currently two grand juries sitting in Denver, and new cases can be brought to them at any time.

Although Denver police have identified at least one "person of interest," no one has been arrested in connection with Williams' death.

The cornerback was gunned down near the corner of West 11th Avenue and Speer Boulevard while riding in a Hummer limo at about 2:20 a.m. on Jan. 1. Williams and a group of friends were returning home after attending a New Year's Eve party at Club Safari, a nightclub near downtown.

An SUV linked to the shooting is registered to Brian Hicks, a known Crips member who is being investigated in connection with the Dec. 6 homicide of Kalonniann Louisa Clark-James who was supposed to testify against him in an attempted murder trial.

Hicks was behind bars, awaiting trial on drugs charges, when both Clark-James and Williams were killed.

At least one anti-gang activist, the Rev. Leon Kelly, has said word on the street is that both killings have been tied to the Crips and that the two have "a lot of similarities" to other unsolved homicides.

"Williams was just the tip of the iceberg," Kelly said Wednesday.
Kelly, who runs Open Door Youth Gang Alternatives, said he hopes the grand jury will be able to help police bring closure to several families.
Legal observers have been speculating for months that the Williams investigation and any related unsolved cases could be destined for a grand jury.

Grand juries have the power to subpoena personal records and force reluctant witnesses to appear - particularly valuable tools in cases involving gangs.
"A grand jury provides two things that are really important: secrecy and compelled testimony," former Denver Deputy District Attorney Craig Silverman said Wednesday. "Those two things go together in a situation like this because it's easy to anticipate that you'll have scared and nervous witnesses."

The grand jury development comes a little more than a month after Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey made a public plea for more money to combat dangerous street gangs.

Speaking to a City Council committee, Morrissey said he needed additional funds to cover the investigation of unsolved cases for 18 months. Since then, he has moved two attorneys and an investigator to a prosecution gang unit that had been disbanded in the wake of budget cuts.


Morrissey told the committee then that the best way to fight increasingly violent gangs is to bring grand jury indictments against the entire organization.

[email protected] or 303-954-5219

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5450060,00.html

[Denver Native]

Thank you for your post, and this is the thought that I had posted before in response to different posters thinking that something should have been done by now. Of course, to us, Darrent is the one on our minds, but they are trying to connect Darrent's murder, and other murders together. I realize it is hard, and I have total confidence that the authorities know what they are doing, and JUSTICE, not only for Darrent, but also other murder victims will come.