Clemmons' sister taken into custody during court hearing

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

The new charges included an allegation that Clemmon's aunt possessed a handgun taken by Clemmons from one of the Lakewood officers.

It was not immediately clear why the sister, Latanya Clemmons, 34, was being held. But earlier this week she said police had searched her Tacoma home while she was gone, left a warrant on the table and taken cameras, her computer and paperwork.

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

Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said Latanya Clemmons would be arrested, but didn't specify on what allegation. She was being questioned by detectives this afternoon.

The aunt, Letricia Nelson, 52, and Quiana Maylea Williams, 26, a friend of Clemmons, were charged Friday with providing transportation, medical treatment and medical supplies to Maurice Clemmons after he shot and killed the police officers.

Clemmons brought Nelson the officer's gun shortly after the shootings, saying he had taken it from one of the four officers he had killed, according to the charge. She put it into a shopping bag with bloody items, according to charging documents.

Clemmons then took the bag, the documents say. A handgun of a Lakewood officer was found in a front pocket of the sweat shirt Clemmons was wearing when a Seattle police officer shot and killed him Tuesday after a two-day manhunt.

Clemmons also had an older wound he received during an exchange of gunshots with Lakewood officers on Sunday.

Nelson was charged with six counts of rendering criminal assistance in the first degree and one count of possession of a stolen firearm. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $1.5 million bail.

Williams was charged with five counts of first-degree rendering criminal assistance. She pleaded not guilty was ordered held on $1 million bail.

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

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

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.

Clemmons told the two he was going to rest and heal, and that he wasn't done, the relative is quoted as telling a detective.

Nelson put the handgun from the Lakewood officer into the shopping bag before Clemmons left with two brothers who had brought him to Nelson's house, the documents say. The brothers, who are being held for helping Clemmons, took Clemmons to the Auburn Super Mall, triggering a series of movements to elude police.

The relative said when she told Nelson it "ain't right" not to call police, Nelson responded, "It ain't right, but family's more important," according to the documents.

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 her prior statements weren't true, the documents say.

After Clemmons left his aunt's house Williams bought peroxide, gauze and bandage material to treat Clemmons on Sunday, according to the charging documents.

Williams told detectives Clemmons had called her earlier Sunday and told her he had been shot and that he had killed an officer or officers, the documents allege. She said she met up with him and 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