The wife of a man facing attempted homicide charges allegedly threatened a key witness against him three days before the witness was gunned down in her front yard, court records say.
Kimaya James, 26, was arrested on investigation of witness intimidation after she allegedly warned Kalonniann Louisa James-Clark on Sunday not to testify against her (Kimaya’s) husband, Brian Kenneth Hicks, 27, according to court documents.
James-Clark, 28, was shot to death Wednesday night in the 100 block of South Harrison Street during a home- invasion robbery, police and court records say. Two men allegedly broke into her house, demanded drugs and money and shot her as she ran out her door.
James-Clark – whose husband, Nicholas James, is Kimaya James’ cousin – also told police she was previously threatened at gunpoint in an attempt to keep her from testifying against Hicks, court records say. The records do not indicate when that incident occurred or who was responsible.
Hicks faces two counts of attempted first-degree homicide for allegedly firing numerous shots at James-Clark and another woman June 12, 2005, court records say. James-Clark was expected to be a witness against Hicks at his upcoming trial in that shooting.
Hicks, who is in the Denver County Detention Facility on $550,000 bail, has not been named a suspect in James- Clark’s death, said Virginia Quiñones, Denver police spokeswoman.
“We’re not sure Hicks had anything to do with this, but we are not ruling that out,” Quiñones said Friday.
That is also true for Kimaya James, who was held in the Denver City Jail until Thursday, when she paid a $35,000 bond.
James-Clark called police Monday to report that she had received two calls from Kimaya James, who had been her friend, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
At 5:35 p.m. Sunday, Kimaya James allegedly called James- Clark at home and asked her what it would take to “resolve” the problem of her pending testimony against Hicks before things got worse for James- Clark.
Kimaya James told James-Clark that Hicks hadn’t tried to shoot her but was trying to shoot someone else, she told the witness, according to court records.
James-Clark told James she still planned to testify against Hicks, she told police. Ten minutes later, Kimaya James called the witness again and threatened that she would “ruin” James-Clark if she ruined Hicks by testifying, court records allege.
Police arrested Kimaya James on Monday on investigation of witness intimidation.
James-Clark’s mother, Ann Clark, said her daughter told her she had been threatened not to testify against Hicks, whose trial was to begin Monday, but James-Clark felt she would be safe because Hicks was in jail.
Her daughter had told her that Hicks originally had been angry at Nicholas James, James- Clark’s husband, and that shooting at James-Clark in 2005 was a way of getting vengeance, Ann Clark said.
Ann Clark is caring for her daughter’s three sons and daughter in Louisiana.
James-Clark was planning on moving to Louisiana to be closer to her children after the trial, Ann Clark said.
Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of James-Clark’s killers.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
