Prosecutors: Charges won’t be leveled in drive-by slaying

Keith Paul

Thursday, Aug. 30, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

Four men accused of killing a North Las Vegas woman standing outside at her sister's wake will be released from jail as early as today after prosecutors decided there isn't enough evidence to file charges in the case.

One of the four men is also under investigation in connection with another gang-related slaying, one of 13 that has plagued the area of town near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue.

However, the case that is currently holding the men in jail will be dropped.

"At this point we don't have sufficient evidence to support the charges," David Barker, a Clark County chief deputy district attorney, said. "We need more information before we can file (the murder charges). We need witnesses to step forward."

The four men arrested last week will be released from the North Las Vegas jail after an initial appearance in Justice Court, when the case will be dropped, Barker said. The appearance will occur in the next few days, if not today.

Corey Johnson, 24, Joey Clark, 21, Anthony Hampton, 18, and Jamario Macklin, 16, were arrested last week and booked in connection with the May 25 killing of Gwendolyn Jones and the wounding of four others as the group was standing in a yard at a wake for Jones' sister.

Two other suspects were being sought in connection with the case. Two additional suspects -- Ramond Bradford, 19, and Antonio Banks, 19, -- were found shot to death last week.

Barker said the case had the probable cause necessary to arrest the men, but without more evidence the case won't go forward to trial.

"You have got to have cooperation from witnesses. There currently isn't sufficient evidence, but that may change when people start to step forward," Barker said. "The police are doing a very good job, but if people refuse to cooperate, there is little we can do. It is very frustrating for everyone."

North Las Vegas Police had hoped after prosectors read the entire case against four gang members, the charges would be filed.

"Detectives verbally laid the case out (Wednesday) and the prosecutors said there might be some problems," Sgt. Jim Jackson of the detective bureau said. "We think after they read the case file and see how it all connects together, it should go to trial."

Detectives admit they don't have an eyewitness to the shooting, but Jackson said an eyewitness is not always needed to prove a case.

"Was there an eyewitness in the (Ted) Binion case? No. Was there an eyewitness in the Margaret Rudin case? No," Jackson said referring to two recent high-profile murder cases, both of which ended in convictions. Binion's former girlfriend Sandy Murphy and her lover Rick Tabish were convicted in Binion's murder. Rudin was convicted of murdering her millionaire husband.

Police have a witness who relays a story of the men driving by the wake in an effort to plan the drive-by shooting. A witness told police about the men talking about doing the shooting, Jackson said.

"A witness saw the gun being brought to the area and then the gun being traded around. The car then went off around the corner and shots were fired," Jackson said.

Police have had other cases come apart once arrests have been made, as they are having trouble getting people to come forward in the gang-related slayings. There have been 13 gang-related murders in an area of town that falls in North Las Vegas Police and Metro Police jurisdictions.

Residents have said they are fearful of retaliation if they talk to police about shootings.Such was the case against Vernon Craft last year. He was arrested in connection with the shooting death of a 19-year-old suspected gang member, but the charges were dropped in March. He was then charged in a drive-by shooting this year and those charges were also dropped.

On July 22 Craft was found shot to death on West Lake Mead Boulevard. Police suspect he was killed in retaliation for a slaying that happened the day before.