Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Terrance Kelly was killed while sitting in a car outside a house.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
RICHMOND, Calif. -- Ending a four-day search, a 15-year-old boy who was sought in connection with the killing of De La Salle High School football standout Terrance Kelly quietly surrendered to police Tuesday evening.
Darren Pratcher walked into the Richmond police station around 6:25 p.m. with his father, Larry Pratcher, Sr. and pastor, Rev. Charles Hopkins, said Sgt. Enos Johnson.
At the same time, family members of the slain teen gathered around his white casket during a vigil just a few blocks away.
Pratcher was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held on $1 million bail. Johnson described his demeanor in police custody as "somber."
Attack
Kelly, a De La Salle High School football standout, was killed Aug. 12 while sitting in a car outside a house.
He was shot several times in the chest and was pronounced dead at a local hospital. He was hours away from leaving for his first semester at the University of Oregon.
Richmond police quickly arrested Darren Pratcher's older brother Larry Pratcher, 18, holding him in lieu of $2 million bail on suspicion of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Until Tuesday night, the younger Pratcher was sought by police on a $1 million arrest warrant authorized by a Contra Costa County juvenile court judge.
Police said Tuesday they don't know where Darren has been for the past four days. Police are still looking for another suspect believed to have been present when the shooting occurred.
"This investigation is continuing, it hasn't stopped," Johnson said.
Possible motive
Police had said Monday they believed some sort of incident occurred between Kelly and Darren Pratcher last summer while the two played in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Nevin Community Center.
A grudge -- some perceived disrespect -- festered in the younger Pratcher for months, leading him to pull the trigger last Thursday night, police suspect.
Larry Pratcher and Kelly were both recruited to play basketball for the Richmond Police Activities League, though officials there couldn't recall if the boys had been on the same 16-and-under team.
Johnson said Tuesday police had no new information regarding the relationship between the three men or if a rifle found near the scene was the murder weapon.
"The information that we have was that they were friends and they all played ball together," Johnson said. "What caused a friendly relationship to go bad is what we're trying to find out."
Investigators that Johnson said had left for the evening were called back in to interview Darren Pratcher "for as long as it took." Later, he would be booked into Juvenile Hall.