Darnell Keith Washington
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Darnell Keith Washington | |
|---|---|
 Washington in 2017 | |
| Born | 1988 or 1989 (age 36–37)[1] |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Spouse | Tania Washington |
| Conviction | First degree murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
Span of crimes | August 28 – October 5, 2012 |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Killed | Susie Ko |
| Injured | John Marquez |
Date apprehended | October 5, 2012 |
| Imprisoned at | San Quentin State Prison |
Darnell Keith Washington (born 1988/1989) is an American convicted murderer, robber, and carjacker. In 2012, he escaped from the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center where he was awaiting trial for armed robbery, later joining his wife in a crime spree consisting of multiple robberies, carjackings, the shooting of a police deputy, and the murder of a retired school teacher. Upon their arrest, Washington was convicted and sentenced to death.[1]
Original jailing and escape
In August 2012, Darnell Washington was arrested for armed robbery and receiving stolen property. While awaiting his upcoming trial, which was scheduled for September 14, Washington was housed at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center in San Bernardino County.[2] On August 28, his wife Tania Washington visited him, and helped Darnell scale up a 10-foot high fence, which he jumped over and escaped.[3]
Crime spree and capture
After the guards realized Washington had escaped, an alert was put out for information on his whereabouts, with a physical description dispatched with his height at 6-foot-1 and his weight at around 185 pounds.[2] On September 2, at around 9 a.m. in South El Monte, Darnell and Tania were pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy John Marquez, who noticed them driving suspiciously. Upon calling Darnell out, Darnell exited the vehicle and shot Marquez with a shotgun before fleeing.[4] Marquez was wounded, but survived. A little while later, the couple carjacked a nearby vehicle, before abandoning it in South Gate, and later stealing another vehicle, according to some reports alleging it as a 1996 Plymouth Grand Voyager.[4]
On September 20, The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed a warrant for the couple's arrest.[4] A week later, the couple robbed a Kmart in Pinole, fleeing the scene in a stolen pickup truck.[3] On October 5, the couple invaded the home of 55-year-old Susie Ko, a retired schoolteacher and a mother of four living in Hercules. According to the later convictions, it was Darnell who stabbed Ko a total of 21 times until her death, before stealing her car, a 2011 Subaru Outback, and attempting to flee up north.[5] The couple wound up in Washington, where they were arrested in the suburb of SeaTac in Seattle.[6]