ST. LOUIS — Family members and witnesses who saw a volunteer youth football coach get shot four times during a practice say it is a case of self-defense and the suspected shooter should be released.
On Thursday, Daryl Clemmons, 43, appeared in court for a bond reduction hearing on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action.
Police say he shot Coach Shaquille Latimore four times on Oct. 10 because Clemmons was upset that the coach did not have his son playing as a starter on the team.
Latimore spoke to 5 On Your Side’s Robert Townsend on Wednesday.
“He kept shooting me, man, shot me four more times while I was on the ground, an unarmed Black man, and he shot me four more times,” said Latimore, who is still recovering from his wounds.
Jason Clemmons, Daryl Clemmons’ brother, said Latimore was armed and showed his brother his gun before giving it to one of his friends so he could get into a fistfight with Clemmons at the practice.
“When he fell, my brother got the best of him,” Jason Clemmons said. “He asked his friend for the gun back and in the midst of him getting the gun in his hand, our brother shot in self-defense.”
He added: “It wasn't over my nephew.”
Court documents corroborate part of that account.
“The victim went on to explain that on the day of the incident, he approached the (defendant) and asked him what was up and pulled his gun out and gave it to someone to hold and that the defendant subsequently shot him multiple times while he was unarmed,” according to the documents. “A witness who was on the scene at the time of the incident corroborated the victim’s account.”
Several other parents whose children attended the practice along with Clemmons’ family members attended Thursday’s court hearing and backed up Jason Clemmons' account.
One man whose son plays on the team said he saw the shooting, and Latimore was the aggressor.
He asked not to be identified, fearing retribution.
“They are putting an innocent person in jail,” he said. “The coach started this.”
The witness says the coach walked at least 100 yards off the field during the practice to confront Clemmons.
“He should have stayed on the field,” the witness said of the coach.
And Clemmons repeatedly told the coach to leave him alone, the witness said.
“Why aren’t you being a coach?” the witness said. “You are supposed to be teaching me right from wrong, but you go and do wrong. Does that make sense? No, it don't.”
Jason Clemmons also said his brother came to his house within 30 minutes of the shooting and asked him to drive him to the police department so he could turn himself in.
“He turned himself in because he felt that he was innocent,” Jason Clemmons said.
Clemmons’ brother says Daryl Clemmons co-founded the Bad Boyz football team 12 years ago and stepped down from coaching when his son joined the team two years ago.
He said Latimore and his brother got into an argument at an event two days before the shooting.
He says he doesn’t know what all of their fighting has been about, but he believes his brother had no other choice but to defend himself.
Judge Beth Hogan heard Clemmons’ self-defense argument during Thursday’s bond reduction hearing from his public defender. His public defender also noted his client had no prior convictions on his record and works two jobs.
The judge ordered Clemmons remain in custody without bond, and scheduled his next hearing for Nov. 22.