New details in court documents are shedding more light on the fatal shooting of a Rockville man at Milligan Park on March 5.
Draco Alan Lee Farris-Clark, 18, of Crawfordsville is charged with murder, armed robbery and criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon in connection with the death of Kaleb Isabell, 31, of Rockville. Zayden Michael White, 18, also of Crawfordsville, has been charged with armed robbery conspiracy to commit resulting in death and aiding in felony murder. Farris-Clark and White were jailed Friday.
A third person, Adrien Wesley Cottom, 19, of Crawfordsville, also has been arrested in connection with the case. Cottom was jailed Monday afternoon and faces charges of aiding in felony murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
All three men are being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Montgomery Circuit Court, Crawfordsville police were called to Milligan Park around 9:50 p.m. March 5 after a woman reported that a man she was with had been shot in the chest.
Officers arrived to find Isabell inside his silver Volkswagen Passat with gunshot wounds. Despite efforts by emergency responders, Isabell was pronounced dead at the scene.
The woman told investigators she and Isabell had traveled from Lafayette to Crawfordsville after someone contacted Isabell through Snapchat asking to buy drugs. The Snapchat account arranging the meeting used the name “Draco,” according to the affidavit.
After arriving at the park, the woman said a man wearing a white hoodie and black sweatpants approached the vehicle and began counting money on the hood of the car. After counting the cash, he handed it to Isabell through the driver’s side window.
Isabell then turned and passed the money to the woman seated in the back seat. As she began handling the cash, she told investigators she heard multiple gunshots.
The man ran away from the vehicle and headed west through the park, according to the affidavit. The woman exited the car, saw the suspect running away and called 911.
Investigators later recovered about seven shell casings near the vehicle and found a large amount of cash in the back seat.
A backpack belonging to Isabell contained a phone believed to have been used to arrange the meeting. While briefly checking the phone, an officer saw a Snapchat profile with the name “Draco” before it disappeared from the screen.
Investigators later identified a person of interest as Farris-Clark. Police also received information that the suspect may have been in a red sport utility vehicle.
A Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy later located a red Chevrolet Equinox in the parking lot of Long John Silver’s on the south side of Crawfordsville.
The driver of the vehicle told the deputy she had just arrived for work. Another woman, described in the affidavit as a female relative of Farris-Clark, was sitting in the front passenger seat.
While speaking with the passenger, the deputy noticed a man in the back seat slouched down with a hat pulled low over his face. The man was later identified as Farris-Clark.
Investigators reported finding wet black sweatpants and shoes with sand and gravel in the vehicle. Police noted that a stream runs through Milligan Park and later observed footprints in a sandy area near the water that appeared to show someone had recently crossed the stream.
During an interview with police, Farris-Clark admitted he had arranged the drug deal with Isabell but said the plan was to rob him.
According to the affidavit, Farris-Clark said he and White had discussed the plan for several days and intended to take marijuana products from Isabell and sell them later for money. An unidentified third individual allegedly advised Farris-Clark to bring a firearm if he planned to rob a drug dealer and provided him with a handgun.
Farris-Clark told investigators White drove him to Milligan Park the night of the shooting.
He said he approached Isabell’s vehicle, counted out money and handed it to him. When Isabell turned inside the car, Farris-Clark told investigators he heard a metal sound and became nervous.
Farris-Clark then pulled the handgun and fired seven shots at close range before running from the scene, according to the affidavit.
He told investigators he fled through the park, crossed the stream and dropped the gun while running before returning to a vehicle driven by White.
CPD declined to comment on whether the gun was located.
Farris-Clark said White drove them to White’s residence after the shooting, where he was later picked up by a female relative and another driver.
During questioning, White admitted he had helped plan the robbery and knew Farris-Clark was armed with a gun, the affidavit states.
White told investigators he had scouted Milligan Park beforehand and had gone there the night of the shooting, though he claimed he was in a separate vehicle and left before the robbery took place.
Investigators also obtained a search warrant for a residence in the 1200 block of Old Waynetown Road where they believe Farris-Clark went after the shooting.
The residence is the same property where the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office responded on Feb. 26 to reports of automatic gunfire, later seizing a handgun investigators said appeared to have been modified to fire automatically from a 17-year-old.
The investigation remains ongoing and Crawfordsville Police Chief Aaron Mattingly said Monday that he anticipates additional arrests will be made.
