A 28-year-old Little Rock man on Monday accepted a 60-year prison sentence for his role in the November 2011 slaying of a man killed by mistake.
John Lee Clay will have to serve 42 years before he can qualify for parole for being an accomplice to the killing of 34-year-old Maurice D. Haralson in his home at the Cedar Ridge West apartments on West 51st Street.
Flanked by attorneys Colleen Barnhill and Brett Qualls, Clay pleaded no contest Monday to first-degree murder, reduced from capital murder, in an appearance before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson, a day before he was scheduled to stand trial. With credit for time served, Clay will be 68 years old before he can be released.
Deputy prosecutor Hugh Finkelstein told the judge that Clay and another man, Charles Hill, had gone to the apartments to rob someone there of marijuana, but they went to the wrong apartment.
Clay knocked on the door and when Haralson opened it, Hill, who has not been charged, shot Haralson, the prosecutor said. It was not clear Monday whether police have sufficient evidence that Hill was involved.
Court records show an anonymous tipster directed detectives to Clay in January 2012, but he denied any involvement when questioned.
Six months later, while Clay was under investigation for residential burglary and armed robbery, he was asked again about the slaying, but he still denied having any role in Haralson's killing.
It was not until police confronted him with a statement from a witness who had details of the slaying said to have come directly from Clay that he admitted to participating in the botched robbery to detectives, leading to his arrest in the case in July 2012, court records show.
Clay's 60-year sentence also covers other charges he pleaded no contest to on Monday:
• Felon in possession of a firearm during a Feb. 29, 2012, traffic stop at 51st and Primrose streets. Police found a .380 pistol in his pants waistband.
• Three counts of aggravated robbery for the June 9, 2012, robbery of Ryan Mergener, Brad Moomey and Jordan Baker at the Cedar Ridge West apartments.
• Aggravated robbery for the June 12, 2012, holdup of Chris Jackson, stealing his iPad, in the parking lot of the West Park Executive Building at 7101 W. 12th St. in Little Rock. Co-defendant Keisha Smith, 34, of Little Rock pleaded guilty to a reduced count of robbery in April 2013 in exchange for five years on probation.
• Residential burglary and theft for the July 6, 2012, break-in at the home of Courtney Rhodes at 3008 Tatum St. in Little Rock.
Court records show Clay was on parole at the time of the crimes after his October 2005 guilty plea to charges of robbery, reduced from aggravated robbery, breaking/entering, and drug and firearm possession.
In that robbery case, Clay was 18 when he carjacked a man, Elimish Phillips, with a pistol in the 4400 block of West 12th Street in Little Rock and then led police on a brief pursuit before being apprehended, court records show.
Metro on 07/15/2014