If you don't live in the Puget Sound area, you probably have no idea who he was. Well lemme tell ya. He was a life-long felon with 13 convictions between Arkansas and Washington. He was in the middle of a 108 year sentence when he decided to file a clemency appeal with Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
In his petition he wrote he came from "a very good Christian family" and was "raised much better than my actions speak." He also claimed he'd moved from Seattle to Arkansas as a teenager, and because he had no friends, he gave in to peer pressure and "fell in with the wrong crowd." He complained that he received an overly harsh sentence. He expressed regret that his mother had recently died without seeing him turn his life around. On May 3, 2000, Huckabee commuted Clemmons' sentence to 47 years, 5 months and 19 days, which made him eligible for parole that day. He was set free on August 1, 2000. It only took him six months to violate his parole. He committed aggravated robbery and theft. On July 13, 2001 he was sentenced to 10 more years in prison. He was paroled again in 2004. He told the parole board he was "not ready" the first time he was released, but that he "doesn't want to die in prison" and will "try to do the right thing." Clemmons moved to Washington in 2004 while still on parole, which was approved by Arkansas authorities. (Get him outta here!) He wasn't arrested again untill May of 2009. On May 9th, a Pierce County sheriff's deputy responded to Clemmons' Parkland home (A suburb of Tacoma) at 1118 South 131st St. after reports he was throwing rocks at houses, cars, and people.
In his petition he wrote he came from "a very good Christian family" and was "raised much better than my actions speak." He also claimed he'd moved from Seattle to Arkansas as a teenager, and because he had no friends, he gave in to peer pressure and "fell in with the wrong crowd." He complained that he received an overly harsh sentence. He expressed regret that his mother had recently died without seeing him turn his life around. On May 3, 2000, Huckabee commuted Clemmons' sentence to 47 years, 5 months and 19 days, which made him eligible for parole that day. He was set free on August 1, 2000. It only took him six months to violate his parole. He committed aggravated robbery and theft. On July 13, 2001 he was sentenced to 10 more years in prison. He was paroled again in 2004. He told the parole board he was "not ready" the first time he was released, but that he "doesn't want to die in prison" and will "try to do the right thing." Clemmons moved to Washington in 2004 while still on parole, which was approved by Arkansas authorities. (Get him outta here!) He wasn't arrested again untill May of 2009. On May 9th, a Pierce County sheriff's deputy responded to Clemmons' Parkland home (A suburb of Tacoma) at 1118 South 131st St. after reports he was throwing rocks at houses, cars, and people.
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| Clemmons Residence |
When the deputy tried to enter the house, one of Clemmons' cousins grabbed his wrist. After a struggle, Clemmons emerged from the house and punched the deputy in the face, and assaulted a second deputy who arrived to help. Clemmons was placed under arrest and taken to Pierce County Jail, where he continued to struggle and told jail workers, "I'll kill all you bitches." He was given two felony assault charges and two felony malicious mischief charges, but was released the next day after posting a $40,000 cash bond. On May 11, around 1 a.m., Clemmons appeared naked in his living room and ordered two female relatives, ages 11 and 12, to fondle him. The two reportedly complied out of fear, and the 11-year-old fled the house afterward. Clemmons took the 12-year-old into his bedroom along with his wife. Clemmons repeatedly referred to himself as Jesus, and said his wife was Eve. He raped the 12-year-old and let her go only after his wife begged him to. However, at about 4 a.m. that same morning, Clemmons gathered his family back into the living room and demanded they strip naked together. He later left the house, claiming the world was coming to an end and that he was "going to fly to heaven." A family member called 911 and police found Clemmons at a nearby second house he was building (How this guy had $40,000 in cash for bail and the funds to build a house is beyond me, he had no job) but he fled on foot and escaped. He failed to appear the next day for an arraignment on his May 9 charges. Child Protective Services investigated and substantiated the sexual abuse complaint. Latanya Clemmons, Maurice's sister, told authorities he had undergone a change and was "not in his right mind." He was arrested on July 1, 2009 after he appeared in a Pierce County court, trying to have his bench warrant thrown out. He was charged with second-degree rape of a child, as well as being a fugitive from Arkansas. At the time of his arrest, Clemmons made religiously themed comments and referred to himself as "the beast". He also told a police officer that President Barack Obama and LeBron James were his brothers, and Oprah Winfrey was his sister. (That explains where he got the money) During a court-ordered mental health evaluation, Clemmons told psychologists he had experienced hallucinations of "people drinking blood and people eating babies, and lawlessness on the streets, like people were cannibals." A psychologist concluded Clemmons was competent to stand trial, which eliminated him as a candidate for involuntary commitment. An attorney for Clemmons notified the court he planned to pursue an insanity or diminished-capacity defense. On November 23, 2009, Clemmons paid $15,000 for a $190,000 bond from Jail Sucks Bail Bonds. Clemmons failed to check in with his community corrections officer within 24 hours of his release, but nothing was done in response. On Thanksgiving at his aunts, Clemmons told several people he planned to use a gun to murder police officers and others, including school children. He showed a gun to the people in the room and told them he had two others in his car. Clemmons said he planned to activate an alarm by removing a court-ordered ankle monitor, then he would shoot the police officers who responded to his house. In describing the planned murder, Clemmons said, "Knock, knock, knock, boom!" On the morning of November 29, Darcus Allen a friend from the Arkansas State Pen drove Clemmons past the Forza Coffee shop in Lakewood, another suburb of Tacoma at 11401 Steele Street.
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| The Coffee Shop |
After they saw marked police cars in the parking lot, Allen drove back past the coffee shop and parked nearby. Around 8 a.m, Clemmons walked into the coffee shop, where four police officers were working on laptops before their shift. Clemmons opened fire on all four officers, shooting them to death. As Clemmons fled, one of the officers struggled with him in the doorway, then shot Clemmons in the back before dying of his own wound to the head.
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| Inside Coffee Shop |
Clemmons stole his Glock before fleeing. He then went back to his house and told his brother Ricky and two friends, Eddie and Doug Davis he'd been shot by police. His brother allegedly gave Eddie and Doug keys to a car to "get Maurice out of here." As they drove, Clemmons told the brothers' he "had taken care of his business." The Davis brothers took him to other friends, who bandaged his wounds. Later that day, police received a tip that Clemmons was seeking shelter from friends in Seattle. Police pulled over a white car they believed to have been transporting him, and the female driver admitted Clemmons was a friend and she had brought him to Seattle even after he told her "he had killed a police officer or officers." The biggest manhunt the Seattle-Tacoma area had ever seen was on, and Clemmons was considered the most wanted man in the Pacific Northwest. Authorities surrounded the homes of Clemmons' friends and family in order to prevent him from finding shelter, and to determine who was helping him. After receiving what they later learned was a false tip, police locked down the house of Clemmons' aunt at 32nd and Yesler in the upper-class neighborhood of Leschi. After 11 hours and several attempts to coax or force him out of the house, including the use of a robot, tear gas, and flash-bang grenades, police entered and discovered Clemmons was not there.
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| Aunt's house at 32nd and Yesler |
The city of Seattle paid $900,000 in damages. Around 2:45 a.m., on December 1, an officer was on patrol and stopped to investigate a broken-down car in the 4400 block of South Kenyon St. in the crime-ridden Rainier Beach neighborhood. The car was idling with its hood up. The officer ran the plates and the car came back stolen.
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| Outside 4422 S. Kenyon St. |
Clemmons approached the patrol car and the officer recognized him as the suspect in the Lakewood shooting. He ordered him to stop and show his hands, but instead Clemmons began to flee. Police claim he then stopped, turned around, and reached into his waist area for a gun. (that's probably a lie but I don't blame the cop) The officer fired several rounds at Clemmons and hit him at least twice, killing him. Clemmons was carrying the handgun he stole from Officer Richards at the coffee shop. After his death, multiple people were arrested for helping him during and after the Lakewood shooting. The accomplices misled police, gave Clemmons cell phones and money, applied first aid to his gunshot wounds, and tried to help him leave the state. Among those arrested were Clemmons' sister, who bandaged his wounds and provided him transportation. She was sentenced to five years. Letricia Nelson received six years, Quiana Williams received five years, Eddie and Doug Davis received 10 and 7 years, and Clemmons' brother Ricky was found not guilty by a jury. Darcus Allen was arrested and charged with aggravated first-degree murder for his alleged role as Clemmons' getaway driver. Allen claims he did not know Clemmons' plans when he drove him to the coffee shop, but authorities argued he had known since Thanksgiving that Clemmons planned to murder police officers. He was sentenced to 420 years. The four slain officers were Mark Renninger, 39 (Killed with a shot to the head); Ronald Owens, 37 (Shot in the neck); Tina Griswold, 40 (Shot in the head); and Greg Richards, 42 (Shot in the head). RIP
