Northern California pot sale, chase and fatal shooting leads to arrests of seven
Detectives have arrested seven people from Texas and Louisiana on suspicion of murder in connection with a botched marijuana sale, fake money, a vehicle chase through Grass Valley and a female passenger killed by gunfire, police officials said.
Authorities on Tuesday tracked down the suspects to a hotel in Davis, where detectives found a pistol, more than 30 pounds of processed marijuana and “a large stockpile” of phony cash, the Grass Valley Police Department announced in a news release Wednesday.
Officers first spotted a vehicle speeding through Grass Valley about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The officers followed the vehicle as it sped to a hospital, where the officers learned that the female passenger had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. There was no further information about her available Wednesday.
The officers questioned the driver after arriving at the hospital and learned that a group of people had come from out of the area to buy marijuana, according to the news release. The group of buyers met the marijuana sellers near South Ponderosa Road.
During the transaction, it became apparent to the sellers that the buyers were using fake money to buy the marijuana. Police officials said a dispute ensued, and that led to the vehicle chase as the buyers tried to get away with the marijuana.
The vehicles headed toward Grass Valley on Rough And Ready Highway. Police officials said someone in the vehicle with the marijuana buyers fired a gun at the pursuing vehicle near the intersection of West Main and Alta streets.
Shots were fired, and one of the bullets struck the female passenger in the pursuing vehicle, police said. Grass Valley police detectives continued investigating the fatal shooting over the following 48 hours, identifying the suspects in the buyers’ vehicle.
Detectives believe the seven suspects found at the Davis hotel were involved in the failed drug deal and the deadly shooting. Each of them were arrested on charges of murder, grand theft and criminal conspiracy, according to the news release.
Those arrested were William Levise, 31, Trey Richard, 22, Ronney Turner, 31, Juan McHenry, 31, Devon Jennings, 21, and Laderrick Wynn, 20, all of them from Dallas. Also arrested was Dakari Harris, 22, of Shreveport, Louisiana.
The Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, the Davis Police Department and the California Highway Patrol helped the Grass Valley detectives take the suspects into custody. The Nevada County District Attorney’s has been worked closely with the detectives throughout the investigation.
