Clemmons' sister taken into custody in courtroom

TACOMA — The sister of Maurice Clemmons was taken into custody by Pierce County sheriff's deputies at the conclusion of Friday's arraignment for two other women charged with helping Clemmons elude police after he killed four Lakewood police officers.

The charges filed against one of the two women, Clemmons' aunt Letricia Nelson, included an allegation that she had possession of a handgun taken by Clemmons from one of the slain officers.

Nelson allegedly handled the gun before returning it to Clemmons, who was found with the weapon after he was fatally shot Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

It was not immediately clear why Clemmons' sister, LaTanya Clemmons, 34, was taken into custody. Earlier this week, she said police had searched her Tacoma home while she was gone, seized cameras, her computer and paperwork, and left a warrant on a table.

Clemmons reacted calmly when she was led away and told a relative not to worry.

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said LaTanya Clemmons would be arrested and likely would be booked on investigation of rendering criminal assistance. She was being questioned by detectives Friday afternoon.

On Sunday, as police searched for her brother, LaTanya Clemmons told The Seattle Times she hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving. She said she had been trying to reach him by phone all day.

However, police allege LaTanya Clemmons helped her brother escape the manhunt and, according to a search warrant, was seen entering one of Clemmons' residences with him hours after the officers were killed in a Parkland coffee shop.

Nelson and Quiana Maylea Williams, 26, were arraigned Friday on charges of providing transportation, medical treatment and medical supplies to Maurice Clemmons, 37, after he killed the four officers.

Nelson was charged with six counts of rendering criminal assistance and one count of illegal possession of a handgun that came from one of the Lakewood officers.

She pleaded not guilty, and bail was set at $1.5 million. If convicted as charged, she could face up to 40 years in prison, according to Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist.

According to charging documents, Clemmons gave Nelson the gun shortly after the shootings, saying he had taken it from one of four officers. She put it into a shopping bag with several bloody items, according to charging documents, and then Clemmons took the bag.

Williams, a friend of Maurice Clemmons, was charged with five counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $1 million bail. She could face up to 25 years in prison if she's convicted, prosecutors said.

The two women were among six friends and relatives of Clemmons who have been booked into jail this week on allegations they helped Clemmons after the killings.

Prosecutors allege Nelson and Williams helped conceal Clemmons while he was on the run, and claim Nelson lied to police.

Nelson helped Clemmons when he showed up at her home in the Algona-Pacific area shortly after Sunday's shootings, according to charging documents. She gave Clemmons $60 and keys to a relative's car, the documents allege.

On Monday and Tuesday, Nelson denied to a Tacoma police detective that she had seen or heard from Clemmons after the shootings, prosecutors allege. But when questioned Wednesday, she said she had lied, the documents say.

Williams told detectives Clemmons had called her earlier Sunday and told her he had been shot by one of the officers and that he had killed an officer or officers, the documents allege. She said she took him to her home, where she provided the medical treatment.

Prosecutors allege Williams drove Clemmons to the Leschi area in Seattle, where police missed Clemmons by minutes.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times staff reporter Sara Jean Green contributed to this report.