Not guilty pleas were entered Wednesday morning for the three men facing charges in connection with the disappearance of a Clarksville man who is presumed dead.
Kentucky State Police say 22-year old Marquell Devont’e Sims of Oak Grove was in the car with 20-year old Dawuan Davis of Oak Grove and Justin Tyler Sawyer at the Shell Station in Oak Grove on December 17 during a drug deal gone bad that led to Davis allegedly shooting Sawyer five times.
Sims reportedly got out of the car after the first two shots were fired and walked across KY 115 to the Pilot gas station. Police say Davis later in the night used the help of 36-year old Gene “Doug” Henry of Oak Grove to move Sawyer’s body from the back seat to the trunk of his stolen car.
Defense attorney Mark Gilbert is representing Davis, Michael Thompson is Sims’ attorney and Michael Cotthoff represents Henry, with not-guilty pleas entered on behalf of all three defendants during a scheduled arraignment hearing Wednesday.
Cotthoff noted Henry’s alleged involvement is very different than the others and Judge John Atkins scheduled another pre-trial conference for all three on April 28.
Davis is the only suspect still in jail and Judge Atkins told Gilbert to file a formal bond motion if an agreement isn’t reached with the Commonwealth. Davis and Sims are charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault and kidnapping. Henry is charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.