Judge Karen Howze ordered 20-year-old Darious Scales held Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed in connection to the August 2013 shooting death of Timothy Delonte Dawkins.
By all accounts, Scales wasn’t shooting at Dawkins. Charging documents say Scales engaged in a shootout with Todd Green, who was arrested just after Dawkins death a year ago.
Prosecutors appear to be charging both men under urban warfare theory, meaning they don’t have to prove who fired the fatal shot. Instead, they must prove that the parties involved:
- were armed and ready to fight when a crime took place,
- that they engaged in a gun battle,
- that they did not act in self-defense,
- that their conduct played a role in how the crime unfolded,
- and that it was reasonably foreseeable that the death of an innocent bystander could occur during the course of a fight.
The two combatants will now be charged as codefendants for Dawkins’ murder.
Police found Dawkins lying face down on the walkway with a single gunshot wound to the back in the 4200 block of 4th street Southeast.
Green was arrested two days after Dawkins’ death on suspicion of second-degree murder in connection with the case.
An apartment’s surveillance video showed two men appearing to come together and one of the men, later identified as Green, holding a firearm with an extended clip firing toward Dawkins and Scales, according to charging documents.
An unarmed Dawkins attempted to run away, documents say, but fell after he was shot. Scales, meanwhile, fired back at Green, and then escaped by running toward the back of the apartment complex, documents say.
At the time of the shooting, a special police officer spotted Scales running from the area after hearing a gun fire and positively identified Scales in a photograph, documents say.
According to charging documents, the officer stated it had consistent contact with Scales for three years.
Documents say a witness told police that it saw Scales and Dawkins together that day in a 2011 black in color Chrysler, and it saw Scales armed with a gun.
The witness said it had multiple confrontations with Green due to it’s friendship with Scales, documents say. When the witness told Scales about the encounters, Scales said, “Don’t Worry about it. I’m going to handle that,” according to documents.
Scales is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on September 19 before Judge Robert E. Morin.
Charging documents are embedded below:
