KELSO — One of three suspects in the January shooting death of a Kelso convenience store clerk pleaded guilty in Cowlitz County Superior Court Wednesday.
Nenemeny Winter Ekiek was suspected of supplying 19-year-old D’Anthony Leslie Williams with a hat and red bandanna disguise used in the robbery-homicide. Ekiek pleaded guilty Wednesday to his charges of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and possession of meth.
His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 15, presumably to await the outcome of the trials of the two other suspects.
Williams, the alleged shooter, pleaded not guilty in February and is scheduled for trial in December. Charged with aggravated first-degree murder, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the chance of parole if convicted.
Also on Wednesday, the third and final suspect in the shooting made his first appearance in Cowlitz County Superior Court. That suspect — Erkinson Kinisou Bossy — will make a plea May 2.
Bossy, 24, is suspected of driving the getaway car for Williams, who is accused of shooting and killing 30-year-old Kayla Chapman during a January robbery at Holt’s Quik Chek Market in Kelso. Bossy was assigned public defender Dan Morgan.
Investigators said Bossy led police on a chase through Vancouver and Portland that included gunfire between his vehicle and officers after they attempted to arrest him in early February. Bossy told detectives that he fled because he didn’t want to get in trouble for Chapman’s murder in Kelso, according to court documents.
Bossy was only recently extradited to Cowlitz County. He agreed to be held without bail for now and will be arraigned May 2. Bossy is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and would spend at least 20 years in prison if convicted.
Police believe the three Vancouver men had come up to Kelso on Jan. 22 to buy drugs and, being unsuccessful, decided to look for a store to rob because they “did not want to make the drive to Kelso for nothing,” according to court documents.
They settled on Holt’s Quik Chek, where Williams allegedly went inside armed with a semiautomatic handgun. After robbing Chapman, Williams allegedly shot her and fled, according to court documents. Chapman called 911 but died minutes later.
Witnesses told police that Williams admitted to participating in the robbery/homicide and said he gave the gun to Bossy afterward, according to court documents.
An anonymous witness told Kelso police that Bossy and Ekiek were drug dealers who recruited Williams to assist them with “collections” in their drug business, and that Bossy provided the gun used to kill Chapman.
After interviewing Ekiek, Vancouver police officers located Bossy at an apartment complex in Vancouver. But he fled in a truck, ramming a Vancouver police vehicle in the process, according to court documents. Shots were fired from the truck toward officers in the ensuing pursuit, and Bossy was eventually stopped in Portland and transported to a nearby hospital for injuries sustained in the moving gun battle.
Interviewed by Portland and Kelso detectives at his hospital bedside, Bossy admitted to driving Williams and Ekiek to the Longview/Kelso area to buy drugs, according to court documents. When Williams’ dealer wouldn’t answer his phone, they decided to rob a store before they left town.
Bossy told detectives that Williams said he didn’t think he had killed Chapman when he returned to the car after the robbery. They then sped away to Interstate 5 and Williams returned the gun to Bossy, court records say.
