Derain Waller arrested nearly two months after deadly Double Churches shooting
Authorities made a third arrest Thursday afternoon in connection with the June 15 Columbus shooting at Double Churches Park in that killed 24-year-old Demonde Donya Dicks Jr. of Jonesboro, Ga.
Derain Waller, the 25-year-old man Columbus police identified as the shooter, was taken into custody at 12:45 p.m. Thursday at the Legacy Estates apartment complex in Phenix City. He was booked into the booked into the Muscogee County Jail without bond on one count of murder and two counts of probation violation.
Waller’s arrest follows that of Jacquawn Clark, 19, and Akeveius Powell, 21, whom were apprehended and charged in the deadly shooting the week after it happened.
Clark pleaded not guilty to the murder on June 20, two days before Powell did the same.
Police Sgt. Wendy Holland said authorities were called to the 2300 Double Churches Road park around 3 p.m. June 15 after shots were fired. When they arrived, they found Dicks near the basketball courts, dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
The shooting occurred behind the park’s swimming pool, and its motive may have been robbery, Maj. Gil Slouchick said.
Holland said Clark returned to the scene about an hour after the shooting with his mother and gave a statement to detectives. He told them that he drove Dicks and his cousin Dicks to the park to smoke marijuana when Dicks was killed, Holland testified.
Police said Waller was identified as the shooter, and arrest warrants were issued for all three suspects by June 17.
Holland said Clark was cooperative with detectives but video evidence revealed that he wasn’t being completely upfront about his involvement in the incident. She declined to elaborate.
Authorities said phone records showed that Clark called Powell after the shooting and Waller texted him before the incident. Authorities also verified that Powell resides at Walden Pond Apartments, where officials found Clark’s vehicle.
Dicks’ death came two days before he was scheduled to appear in Muscogee County Superior Court on drug charges.
Demonde Donya Dicks Jr. and three co-defendants who included his father, Demonde Donya Dicks Sr., were set for a 9 a.m. guilty plea Friday before Judge Frank Jordan Jr.
“We cannot find any correlation at this time,” Slouchick said when asked whether the drug charges were related to Dicks’ death.
The son’s attorney, Stacey Jackson, said that he had expected the son to be cleared of the charges against him.
At the request of attorney Mike Garner, who represents the father, Jordan delayed the hearing. Attorneys representing the father’s co-defendants also sought the delay. Jordan rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 2.
Dick’s death was the 9th homicide in Columbus this year, Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan said.
This story was originally published August 12, 2016 at 11:33 AM with the headline "Derain Waller arrested nearly two months after deadly Double Churches shooting."