Aurora – An Aurora man is being held on $100,000 bail in a case involving a stolen cellphone because prosecutors believe he may be connected to the slaying of a witness in June.
Jamar Anthony Johnson, 20, is charged with five felony counts resulting from a February snatch- and-grab burglary at a cellphone store – a charge that would normally carry a much lower bail amount.
But Deputy District Attorney John Hower said at a preliminary hearing Friday that he had “a grave concern” about Johnson and his possible role in the June 20 shooting deaths of recent Colorado State University graduates Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe, who were engaged.
Marshall-Fields, 22, was expected to be the key witness in the July 4, 2004, shooting at Lowry Park that killed Gregory Vann.
Prosecutors said Marshall-Fields would testify that he saw Robert Keith Ray drive the getaway car from the shooting. Police now believe Ray was one of two shooters and have charged him with first-degree murder. Marshall-Fields never took the stand, however, because he was shot to death, along with his fiancée, a week before the trial was to start.
Police believe Johnson was at a barbecue party the day before the shooting that also was attended by Marshall-Fields, who left after saying he felt intimidated.
Later that night, police say Perish Ramon Carter, 24, entered an Aurora bar where Marshall- Fields was playing pool and asked whether he was going to testify and then told him to “watch his back.”
Carter was arrested earlier this month on charges of witness intimidation. He was the first person arrested in connection with the double homicide.
Hower on Friday asked Judge Christine Chauche to continue to hold Johnson on the $100,000 bail out of concern that other witnesses may be intimidated and not come forward.
“I’m not saying that Mr. Johnson made a threat or had a role in the murders,” Hower said. “But we know based on witness statements that Mr. Johnson is an associate of Robert Ray, and he was at the party.
“We would be foolish to ignore that. We do have a growing concern for witnesses.”
Johnson’s attorney, Chris Braddock, called the allegations an extortion attempt by the prosecution to make his client talk.
“They cannot hold a high (bail) over his head so they can keep him in jail,” he said, asking the judge to set bail at $10,000.
Braddock also accused Arapahoe County prosecutors of telling their counterparts in Boulder County to treat Johnson “harshly.”
Boulder authorities in August arrested Johnson on charges that he violated conditions of his probation, based on the burglary allegations. He had been on probation because of a 2003 shooting case, in which he was charged with firing a gun into an off-campus party in Boulder and injuring a University of Colorado basketball player. Johnson pleaded guilty to felony menacing and was sentenced to two years’ probation.
Hower said his agency told Boulder prosecutors that “based on the information we had that they should treat him firmly, revoke his (probation)and not negotiate with him.”
Staff writer Jeremy Meyer may be reached at 303-820-1175 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com.
