CSPD: Camera footage and photos helped identify suspect
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — Details about the arrest of a suspect in a 2023 shooting homicide have been released by the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD).
On Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023 officers were called to the 300 block of East Brookside Street about a shooting. Police found a man, later identified as 32-year-old Darrian Adame, with gunshot wounds, and CSPD later asked for help from the public in identifying suspects.
PRIOR REPORTING: CSPD needs help finding south side homicide suspect
A witness who reported the shooting detailed that earlier in the night, Adame and [the witness] were downtown drinking, and when bars began closing, the two moved to a hot dog stand in front of a local bar. There, they met two unknown black men whom Adame invited to his apartment. The two men were later identified as suspects by police.
The four men walked to one of the suspect’s vehicles–a dark sedan that drove to the other suspect’s car, identified as a white Toyota Corolla, where the suspect retrieved a bottle of flavored vodka. Afterward, the four men traveled in the dark sedan to Adame’s apartment in the 300 block of E. Brookside St.
The witness said he left Adame’s apartment after about 20 to 30 minutes. About an hour later, the witness reported hearing gunshots and saw the two men leaving Adame’s apartment.
CSPD’s investigation used information from the witness and surveillance video from the scene to track the suspects’ movements before the shooting.
Police were able to get a photo of Adame, the witness, and the two suspects as they walked past a restaurant on Tejon Street.
Police learned at one point, a marked police cruiser was behind the dark sedan, which CSPD said would routinely check license plates while on patrol.
CSPD was able to find the license plate from the computer search and identified one of the suspects as 35-year-old Kerry Thomas, who was confirmed to have been at the scene from fingerprints recovered.
Thomas was arrested and interviewed by police. Thomas told police that he was at Adame’s apartment during the shooting, but claimed it was the second suspect who got into a fight with Adame and shot him during a physical altercation. Thomas is facing charges of Accessory to First-Degree Murder.
The second suspect was believed to be 28-year-old Damari Sims-Herrick based on physical characteristics collected from surveillance photos. Sims-Herrick was later positively identified by Thomas and the witness as the second suspect.
Based on identification by those involved in the investigation, CSPD was able to secure an arrest warrant for Sims-Herrick and took him into custody on Feb. 1, 2024.
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