Brighton – Authorities are investigating whether a man accused of driving the getaway car in a homicide last year is involved in the killing of a witness who was going to testify against him.
Javad Marshall-Fields was expected to tell jurors this week that he saw Robert Keith Ray drive away from the scene after Marshall-Fields’ friend was gunned down last Fourth of July.
But Marshall-Fields never got the chance. He and his fiancée were shot to death June 20 in southwest Aurora.
While police wanted to speak with Ray about the killings, it wasn’t known until Monday that authorities were investigating whether he was involved. When Ray appeared before an Adams County judge Monday on a possible probation violation, prosecutors asked that no bail be granted, citing concerns that he is “a danger to himself and others.”
Meanwhile, the Arapahoe County district attorney sought to delay Ray’s trial this week to give investigators more time to determine whether he was involved in the killing of Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe.
Aurora police have no suspects, and a $10,000 reward is being offered for information that would lead to an arrest.
Marshall-Fields’ family believes the double homicide was a planned attack aimed at halting the testimony against Ray in the 2004 case, in which Gregory Vann, 20, was killed after a July Fourth celebration at Lowry Park.
Marshall-Fields, who also was shot then, had picked Ray out of a police lineup, telling authorities that Ray drove the car after the shooting.
Marshall-Fields had recently finished college and proposed to Wolfe. They were both 22 years old.
Prosecutors on Friday asked Judge Michael Spear to postpone the trial because, among other things, an essential witness – Marshall-Fields – was dead. Spear couldn’t issue an order Monday because Ray was in custody in Adams County.
On Friday, Ray’s probation officer had sought his arrest, saying he had violated conditions of his probation on two juvenile cases: Last month, Ray went to Chicago without permission, which was one violation. He also was pulled over in Nebraska and cited for not having a valid driver’s license. The second violation occurred June 20, the day of the double homicide, when Ray missed an appointment with his probation officer. He was supposed to submit to urinalysis.
Ray turned himself in to the Adams County Jail at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
On Monday afternoon, he appeared in handcuffs wearing a blue-and-orange Adams County Jail uniform. The slight 19-year- old with short-cropped hair didn’t speak during the 15- minute hearing, except to confer with his attorney.
He listened as Deputy District Attorney Lori Beck asked the judge to continue to hold Ray without bail because he was a flight risk and a danger to others as he is being investigated for his involvement in the double homicide.
But Ray’s attorney, Harvey Steinberg, asked for the proof that Ray may have been involved in the June 20 slayings.
“If they have basis, let’s hear it,” he asked.
Seventeenth Judicial District Magistrate Melanie Gilbert agreed with Steinberg, saying there wasn’t enough evidence and set bail at $10,000 in each of the two juvenile cases.
Ray shook Steinberg’s hand and was led away by the lone sheriff’s deputy in the courtroom.
It was a different scene in Arapahoe County, where Ray’s trial was supposed to begin. Officials there hadn’t learned that Ray had turned himself in to Adams County the day before.
Judge Spear requested more security, noting in a court document that Ray’s possible gang affiliation had intimidated victims. But authorities said no overt threats had been made to witnesses or victims.
Nevertheless, everyone who entered the courtroom was searched with handheld metal detector by a sheriff’s deputy. Inside the courtroom, six uniformed officers stood guard.
“Because of all of the sensitivity of this case and the possibility of the involvement in the double homicide, we decided to enhance our security,” said Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.
Despite the issuing of an arrest warrant Monday morning out of Arapahoe County, Ray was almost released from Adams County jail.
Adams County Sheriff’s spokesman Louis Dixon said there was no reason to detain Ray because the jail hadn’t received any notice of an arrest warrant elsewhere.
After The Denver Post contacted Arapahoe County authorities, Robinson said he would contact Adams County and have Ray detained.
Ray’s next hearing in Arapahoe County is set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Funeral services for Marshall-Fields and Wolfe will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Mount Gilead Baptist Church, 195 S. Monaco Parkway.
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer can be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
