Reputed Gang Members Plead Not Guilty to 1997 Murder

Two reputed gang members pleaded not guilty today to the 1997 fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man, a killing authorities contend was sparked by some stolen CDs.

Darryl Lamont Johnson, 38, and Dominique Raquel Evans, 41, are each charged with one count of murder and a special gang allegation in the death of Johnis Demar Jackson on June 21, 1997, in Altadena.

Prosecutors contend Johnson fired the fatal shots. Jackson, a rival gang member, was shot while walking to his car near North Fair Oaks Avenue and West Harriet Street.

Earlier that day, Evans, who was Johnson's girlfriend at the time, confronted a friend of Jackson's over some CDs she said he had stolen, and the man slapped her, the Pasadena Star-News reported. Investigators had several leads in the killing, but charges weren't filed until this year when new evidence surfaced, the newspaper reported.

Johnson and Evans were arrested May 21 and remain in county jail in lieu of $2 million and $1.5 million bail, respectively.

They are due back in Pasadena Superior Court for a pretrial hearing Oct. 29.

Johnson was also involved in the Halloween 1993 killings of two 14-year- old boys and a 13-year-old boy who were trick-or-treating in northwest Pasadena. Johnson gave grand jury testimony implicating Aurelius Duane Bailey in the Halloween homicides, but his statements were not admitted in court. Bailey was sentenced to five years probation after pleading to voluntary manslaughter and attempted murder.

Three other men were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

- City News Service