Fugitive in KCK rampage is arrested in Alabama
Nitamargarita
Fugitive in KCK rampage is arrested in Alabama
By JOHN SHULTZ and MARK WIEBE
The Kansas City Star
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Darrell Stallings
The fugitive suspect in a deadly rampage that claimed five lives in Kansas
City, Kan., stepped off a bus in Birmingham, Ala., and into the arms of a
dozen law enforcement agents Tuesday night.
The arrest of Darrell Lamont Stallings ended the two-week flight of one of
the area's most wanted men. Stallings, charged with five counts of capital
murder, was picked up by authorities about 7:30 p.m. as he switched buses in
Birmingham, according to the FBI office there.
Patrice Hickmon, Stallings' 18-year-old girlfriend, who was also missing
since the June 10 slayings, was taken into custody along with him.
In Kansas City, FBI spokesman Jeff Lanza said Stallings was in the Jefferson
County, Ala., jail Tuesday night, awaiting extradition. Hickmon, who was not
harmed, had not been charged, and authorities were not speculating on her
role in Stallings' flight.
According to the FBI, Stallings' run was doomed after authorities learned
the 32-year-old was headed for Charlotte, N.C., and had bought one-way bus
tickets for himself and Hickmon under assumed names. The pair boarded in
Greenville, Miss.
A few stops later, in Meridian, Miss., an FBI agent and a local sheriff's
deputy boarded Stallings' bus and decided it would be too dangerous to
attempt to arrest him there.
They rode with him until the bus reached Birmingham -- where passengers
needed to change buses to continue on to Charlotte.
When the pair got out, Lanza said, "there were a dozen agents there. It
wasn't an easy arrest, but they were well outnumbered."
Louise Hickmon, Patrice's mother, would only say Tuesday night that "I'm
very happy that she's OK and alive."
Another of Hickmon's daughters, Trina Jennings, 26, was one of five persons
killed in the early morning spree this month.
Also killed were Melvin Montague, 34; Samantha Sigler, 24; Destiny Wiles,
23; and Tameika Jackson, 24. A 27-year-old man also was injured in the
shootings.
Victims' relatives and authorities believe revenge might have sparked the
killings. Though police would not speculate, some family members of the
victims pointed to an April incident when men broke into Stallings' mother's
house and beat her, claiming to be looking for her son's money. Some
speculated their loved ones had died -- at one address, four were shot,
three fatally -- because they were witnesses.
A second man originally sought in the killings, Errik A. Harris, 26, faces
four counts of capital murder. After police announced they were looking for
him and Stallings, Harris surrendered to authorities.
In August, Stallings was paroled after serving 12 years for two
second-degree murder convictions in Wyandotte County.
Kansas City, Kan., police, who had made Stallings' arrest their priority,
were relieved to hear he had been captured. Earlier Tuesday, they had
indications that Stallings had abandoned a car in Omaha, Neb., where the
trail went cold.
"Our efforts have paid off," Lt. Randy Eskina said. Patrice Hickmon, he
said, "was located alive and well, and our suspect Stallings was taken into
custody without incident."
Police said they expected detectives would be sent to Birmingham to question
Stallings. Assuming he does not fight extradition, Stallings could be back
in Wyandotte County within a few days.
Even as Stallings was being apprehended, residents of Kansas City, Kan.,
gathered for song and prayer at 29th Street and Oakland Avenue. They then
joined a motorcade to protest violence in the community where the five were
killed.
Seven-year-old Day'Vonte Jackson winced and burrowed into his
great-grandmother's arms when he heard the Rev. Ralph Gordon Wright call out
his mother's name.
"Tameika Jackson, Samantha Sigler, Destiny Wiles, Trina Jennings, Melvin
Montague. Five people were murdered right here in your community," Wright
bellowed through a megaphone from the front window of the van in which they
were riding. "It's time to wake up, Kansas City."
Later, after hearing of Stallings' capture, Wright, Tameika Jackson's uncle,
said he was elated.
"God has blessed us with this wonderful news," he said. "We spent a lot of
time the last two Sundays talking about it and I said, `He (Stallings) will
make one mistake.' "
Wright, who had just returned from a rally in honor of the victims, also
said that much work remained, including the rearing of Tameika Jackson's
7-year-old son. "Now we have a child who doesn't have a mother, who the
community will have to raise."
After the procession, participants rallied in the parking lot at Wilson's
Pizza and Grill, 1801 Quindaro Blvd.
Brow furrowed and fist shaking, Jennings' father, Ollie Hickmon, spoke
vehemently for the cause.
With one daughter dead and -- unbeknown to him, another in FBI custody in
Alabama -- he talked about his daughters' choices and their consequences.
"I told them two years ago, `Change your ways,' " Hickmon said. "Nobody
wanted to listen. And look what happened."
Amy Sigler-Muehlebach, the sister of Samantha Sigler, had not expected
Stallings to be arrested. "From the very first time we spoke to the police
they said, `We don't expect to take Stallings alive,' " she said. "This is
going to prove to be worse than death, I think."
Destiny Wiles' sister, Kori Jenkins, was at the Lake of the Ozarks when she
heard the news. She called Stallings' capture a huge relief.
"I've just been having nightmares about him," she said. "I have kids, and I
can't take the chance of him being around."
The Star's Sara Shepherd contributed to this report.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/3544126.htm
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