DENVER—The man accused of killing Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams now faces murder charges in another slaying.
Willie D. Clark, 25, was indicted Wednesday in the December 2006 shooting death of Kalonniann Louisa James Clark. Prosecutors said they don’t believe the two people were related.
Also indicted in Kalonniann Clark’s death was Brian Hicks, 29, who police say owned an SUV that was used in Williams’ drive-by slaying on New Year’s Day 2007.
Willie Clark faces 39 counts, including murder, in Williams’ slaying. He hasn’t entered a plea.
District Attorney Mitch Morrissey described Kalonniann Clark’s slaying as a murder for hire, just before she was to testify against Hicks in another case.
The new indictment says Willie Clark and Shun Birch killed Kalonniann Clark, 28, on Dec. 6, 2006. The indictment says the men kicked in the door of her house and Birch shot her while she tried flee.
Authorities say Hicks had tried to kill Kalonniann Clark 18 months earlier, but she survived and was scheduled to testify against him at the time of her death.
Hicks, a suspected gang leader, was charged with attempted murder and other felonies in the earlier attack.
The new indictment says Hicks was in jail when he allegedly used coded phone calls to ask Willie Clark to kill Kalonniann Clark. It alleges Willie Clark hired Birch, 27, to help him.
Clark and Hicks were both indicted on charges of murder, solicitation to commit murder, conspiracy to commit murder and witness intimidation in Kalonniann Clark’s slaying. Clark also faces a burglary charge.
Birch was indicted on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and burglary. He was arrested Wednesday. All three men were being held without bond.
Attorney Darren Cantor, who represents Willie Clark in the Williams case, said he had not seen the new indictment.
It wasn’t known if the Hicks and Birch had attorneys. The Denver jail doesn’t record that information or relay requests for comment to inmates.
Williams was shot after leaving a nightclub. An indictment says he and Willie Clark were at the club with separate groups that exchanged taunts before Williams and his friends left in a rented limousine.
A witness told investigators that Clark was driving an SUV when he caught up with Williams’ limo and fired into it.
Hicks was in jail at the time and still faces separate charges on federal offenses. Clark still faces separate drug charges.
Morrissey said the suspects are believed to be part of a larger group responsible for several unsolved homicides that authorities are still investigating.
Police Chief Gerald Whitman called the killing of a witness “the most serious affront to the criminal justice system.”
