Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail wrote:Shooting suspect on loose
Violence followed Charleston couple
Police launched a massive manhunt Saturday for a man they believe killed the mother of his child at a Taco Bell restaurant on Charleston's West Side. Desmond Demetrius Clark, 22, of Charleston was believed to be armed and dangerous, according to police.
Officers said Clark killed Nalisha Fiona Gravely, 20, after abducting her from North Charleston at about 2 p.m. Saturday. Clark shot Gravely while they were in the vehicle together, said Sgt. Aaron James of the Charleston Police Department.
Gravely escaped from Clark's vehicle on Patrick Street and ran inside the restaurant, where she asked to use a phone and then hid in a closet behind the counter. "She said, 'He's going to kill me.' She knew," said a Taco Bell employee, who asked not to be named.
The employee said a man entered the restaurant and jumped across the counter. The man said, "The bitch has my money," then fired six shots, he said. The employee said the man showed no remorse as he shot Gravely.
"He just rolled out like nothing happened. Like it was nothing. It was like she was just some stranger, like she was just some dog," the employee said. "Nobody deserves to die that way."
The employee said he tried to give Gravely CPR, but she was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Acting on a tip, police surrounded several houses near the intersection of 7th Avenue and Florida Street near the Emmanuel Baptist Church on the West Side. They believed Clark was inside. Police found Clark's maroon Chevrolet Tahoe nearby. A large crowd gathered as SWAT team members raided three houses at about 6 p.m., including a pale green house where police believed Clark was holed up. They did not find Clark inside, and continued to search for him.
"We just hope we find him soon," James said Saturday night. "We're going to be looking for him 24 hours a day until we do find him. He's an extremely violent individual."
By late Saturday, police were still looking for him. James said, "We are following up on everything that we have received so far."
At least seven times in the past four years, Clark has been accused of shooting, stabbing, beating or kidnapping Gravely, according to court records. Several times, he failed to show for court hearings, and once he escaped from home confinement. Apparently, he has served very little time in jail related to these charges.
Gravely's father watched from nearby as police raided a house in search of his daughter's boyfriend. He said he couldn't understand why Clark was free, after so many years of violence. "I never knew he was going to take my daughter and kill her," said Ricky Gravely. "It could have been prevented if he'd been arrested a long time ago. For some reason, he just kept working the system."
Ricky Gravely was baby-sitting the couple's 2-year-old when he last spoke with his daughter, an hour before Clark allegedly abducted her. "She said everything's all right, but you could tell in her voice, it wasn't," he said. Ricky Gravely also spoke with Clark several hours earlier. He said Clark told him he had been caught with marijuana in Dunbar and feared he was going to jail.
Gravely and Clark began dating when she was 16 years old and he was 18. They had been together over the past five years, despite the reported incidents of domestic violence.
In September 2004, Gravely accused Clark of domestic battery. He was arrested in November 2004, but it's not clear whether he served any time related to that charge.
In February 2005, Gravely accused Clark of breaking her nose. Charges were dismissed when an officer failed to show up at a hearing.
In October 2005, Gravely told police that Clark kicked her, dragged her by the hair and shoved her into a vehicle. He was charged with kidnapping, domestic battery and battery. The last two charges were dismissed. The kidnapping charge was waived to circuit court, but there is no record he was indicted.
On Jan. 10, 2007, Gravely told police that Clark choked her and pulled her out of her car on Park Avenue on the West Side. Police could not find Clark.
On Jan. 24, 2007, Clark allegedly found Gravely at a relative's house and forced his way in. When she refused to go with him, he fired a shot into the air, she said. He was charged with wanton endangerment and battery.
In early March 2007, he was placed on home confinement. A few days later, though, he cut off his tracking bracelet.
On April 8, 2007, according to a police report, Clark allegedly stabbed Gravely with a kitchen knife after they left a dance club together and returned to her apartment on West Washington Street. She stumbled to Washington Street and flagged down an officer, according to the police report. She was covered in blood. Clark eluded police again.
On May 9, 2007, Clark allegedly approached Gravely at the South Charleston Wal-Mart with his hands in his pockets. Gravely said she believed he had a gun. He allegedly grabbed her and pushed her into a car. Gravely told police that Clark took out a gun and shot her, grazing her leg. He spent several hours driving around, talking about their relationship. Clark said he didn't care if he lived or died, and that he would shoot police if they tried to apprehend him, according to her statement.
Later, Clark switched cars, and she escaped. Clark was arrested June 28, 2007, on one felony charge of unlawful malicious wounding and a misdemeanor charge of violating a home-confinement order. A hearing was scheduled for July 6, 2007. It is unclear what sentence Clark received.
A few months later, Clark was the victim of violence instead of the alleged perpetrator. On Dec. 8, Clark was shot in front of the American Legion on the West Side. Forty minutes later, another man, Andrew Smoot, 20, was shot and killed in his East End home - police say by two of Clark's associates in retaliation for his shooting.
At the time of this shooting, Clark had no outstanding warrants against him that police know about, according to Sgt. Aaron James of the Charleston Police.
Sue Julian said the news of Gravely's death struck her in the "heart and the stomach on this weekend when we are celebrating Independence Day."
Julian is a team coordinator of the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "Over and over again," she said, "unless batterers are held accountable by court officials the first time something happens, even if it does not look significant at the time, these situations build into a relentlessness."
Julian has worked to prevent domestic violence for more than 25 years. "As we know, the ultimate form of control is homicide."
Ricky Gravely said he hopes his daughter's death will cause police to pay more attention to domestic violence. "What can we do, besides bury our daughter and mourn her?" he said. "She was a very likable person, a happy person, but he was just her first love."
Sunday Gazette-Mail wrote:UPDATE:
Charleston police arrest shooting suspect
Charleston police have arrested Desmond Demetrius Clark, the man who allegedly shot and killed a woman Saturday at a West Side restaurant.
By Staff reports
Charleston police have arrested Desmond Demetrius Clark, the man who allegedly shot and killed a woman Saturday at a West Side restaurant.
Acting on an anonymous tip, police arrested Clark at a home on Woodland Drive at about 12:40 a.m., said Sgt. Aaron James, assistant chief of detectives.
Police said Clark, 22, shot Nalisha Fiona Gravely, 20, in his vehicle after abducting her from North Charleston at about 2 p.m. Saturday. Gravely escaped from Clark's vehicle on Patrick Street and ran into a Taco Bell restaurant, where she asked to use a phone and hid. Clark allegedly followed her inside and fired six more shots. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
And now the fingerpointing starts:
WHY THE FUCK WAS HE STILL ON THE STREETS?!Charleston Gazette wrote:July 8, 2008
Despite Clark's violent history System failed to keep suspect off the streets
A Charleston man accused of killing the mother of his 2-year-old son was charged at least 17 times in four years for often violent offenses tied to domestic battery, drugs, wanton endangerment, burglary and weapons.
Whenever police arrested Desmond Clark in the last year and a half, they called in the SWAT team to do so, said Sgt. S.A. Cooper, chief detective for Charleston police.
"He frequently came across as being unfazed any time he was arrested or facing serious charges," Cooper said. "He threatened to shoot police last year when he kidnapped his girlfriend."
Since 2004, Nalisha Fiona Gravely had said that Clark broke her nose, kicked her, dragged her by her hair, kidnapped her, choked her, stabbed her with a kitchen knife and grazed her in the leg with a bullet.
The most recent domestic battery charge stemmed from a May 17 incident, where Clark allegedly punched his ex-girlfriend in the stomach at a house on Red Oak Street in Charleston. A hearing in that case was set for July 14, according to magistrate court records.
Charleston police say Clark, 22, killed Gravely, 19, at a Taco Bell on Patrick Street on Charleston's West Side. Clark allegedly shot her while they were in a car together, after he abducted her from a North Charleston house around 2 p.m. Saturday.
Gravely ran inside the Taco Bell, where she asked to use a phone, and then jumped across the counter to hide in a closet. Police say Clark followed across the counter, found Gravely in the closet and shot her six times.
Clark was not supposed to have a gun for many reasons. He was a convicted felon after a plea to possession with intent to distribute marijuana. He had also pleaded guilty to domestic battery, which also barred him from having a firearm.
Also, Kanawha Family Court Judge Mark Snyder issued a domestic violence protective order against Clark on May 28, eight days after Gravely filed a domestic violence petition against him.
According to Snyder's order, Clark was to have no contact with Gravely until Aug. 28, a few days after she would have turned 20.
Court records indicate that Clark filed a domestic violence petition against Gravely on Oct. 9, 2007, but a family court judge did not issue a final protective order.
On Jan. 22, Kanawha Circuit Judge James C. Stucky placed Clark on two years' probation. Clark had pleaded guilty to counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, battery and domestic battery.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed charges of breaking and entering, entering without breaking, brandishing and two other counts of domestic battery.
Stucky's order noted that Clark was "not likely again to commit crime and that the public good does not require that he be fined or imprisoned," which is stock language generally included every time a circuit judge places someone on probation.
At the time, Clark was recovering from a gunshot wound he received outside of the American Legion Bar on the West Side in December 2007.
Forty minutes after Clark was shot, 20-year-old Andrew Smoot was shot and killed in his East End home. Police said two of Clark's associates killed Smoot in retaliation for his shooting.
In the past two years, other drug and gun charges against Clark were dropped, according to magistrate court records. Those charges were dropped because police officers didn't show up at Clark's hearings.
Cooper said he doesn't know why the officers missed the court hearings. "We have a pretty strict adherence to making court hearings, but they do get missed," he said. "I don't know if there is a reasonable explanation or not. We aggressively pursued him every time we dealt with him. ... It's possible the officer was on midnight shift and missed a 10 a.m. hearing."
Even if charges are dropped in magistrate court, prosecutors can still seek an indictment from a circuit court grand jury.
Clark was also arrested twice in January 2007. The first time, he choked Gravely during an argument, according to court records. He was charged with domestic battery and released on a personal recognizance bond.
Two weeks later, Clark allegedly forced Gravely out of her grandmother's home and into his car. The grandmother said Clark pushed her down, and said she saw Clark pull out a gun and shoot it into the air.
He was charged with two counts of wanton endangerment and two counts of burglary. In March 2007, he was placed on home confinement.
A few days later, he cut off his tracking bracelet. He was charged with escape.
In October 2007, Stucky removed Clark from home confinement after Clark's attorney, Rico Moore, argued that the electronic monitoring device was a financial burden on Clark's family and that Clark had an opportunity for employment and needed to support his 2-year-old son, according to court records.
Clark was to be employed as a security guard at Nappy by Nature on Washington Street West, according to a letter supporting the motion written by owner Tina Beatty.
Moore also argued that Clark wanted to attend classes, and that he had been on bond since July 2007 without incident.
Gravely and Clark began dating when she was 16 years old and he was 18.
"There's a lot of teenage girls out that that get infatuated with these young men and with the lifestyle," said the Rev. Lloyd Hill, pastor of Liberty Baptist Church on the East End. "They are in it for love, and unfortunately these young men aren't in it for that. They get trapped."
Hill said he is certain there are a lot of young women in similar situations. "I would just encourage these young ladies to tell someone. Let someone know," he said. "This is an example of how extreme it can get if you don't."
Men who commit violent crimes against women manipulate those women, Cooper said. Women often don't show up for court dates after husbands or boyfriends beat them up. That happened in this case, Cooper said.
Detectives followed through with the domestic violence cases against Clark and were aggressive in pursuing charges against him, Cooper said.
"She was a young girl that appears to have been manipulated and intimidated by this individual, which makes prosecution extremely difficult," Cooper said. "We can make an arrest very easily if we have probable cause. ... At the end of the day, when all of his constitutional rights had to be met in a court of law, some of the pieces just weren't there.
"In my dealings with him, he has always seemed to feel he is above the law, as if police presence and occasions where police arrested him didn't really faze him," Cooper said. "In my position, I deal with the most violent offenders in the area. And some seem [undeterred] at times as far as committing violence. He has struck me as one of those individuals."
