Brian Kenneth Hicks will be the first defendant to stand trial in the 2006 witness-killing of Kalonniann Clark, a Denver District Court judge ruled Friday.
Hicks is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, along with Shun Birch and Willie DeWayne Clark. The three men pleaded not guilty to the Dec. 6 killing during Friday’s hearing. Kalonniann Clark was shot to death at her Denver apartment just before she was to testify that Hicks had tried to kill her outside a Denver nightclub in 2005.
Hicks was in jail on drug charges at the time of her death, but prosecutors believe he ordered Willie Clark to carry out the hit and that Clark asked Birch to help him in exchange for money and drugs.
Judge Christina Habas set Hicks’ trial date for Jan. 19. Birch’s trial is expected to follow on Feb. 1. Clark’s case may take longer to go to trial because he is set to go on trial in the 2007 murder of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams on Feb. 22.
The judge said she didn’t believe the three should be tried together because there may be more evidence against one defendant and it could prejudice the jurors against the others. Felisa Cardona, The Denver Post
