Men charged in fatal shooting have extensive criminal histories

Aug. 6—Damian M. Fields, one of the men charged in the June fatal shooting of John Leak Jr. near Greentree Apartments, has a long criminal record that includes several instances when Fields was charged with a serious felony and pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.

Fields' court files tell a story of a man who who has been charged with armed robbery, first-degree burglary, drug trafficking and wanton endangerment, but has frequently pleaded to lesser charges. In January, Fields was released from prison after serving two years of a 16-year sentence.

Fields' co-defendant in the June shooting, Derrick Carroll, has been convicted of shooting at a man last year on Frederica Street, and he's also faced charges of drug trafficking and assaulting law enforcement.

Earlier this week, a Daviess Grand Jury indicted Fields and Carroll with murder in Leak's death in a June 13 shooting on West Seventh Street. Reports say officers responding to a report of a vehicle crash found Leak with a gunshot wound. Officers theorize Leak was shot but managed to drive a short distance before crashing. Leak later died at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital.

Police are releasing almost no details about the murder charges against Fields and Carroll. Search warrants and affidavits from investigators that are normally part of the court record had not been filed with the indictments as of Friday.

According to Daviess County Detention Center reports, Fields was first incarcerated there in January 2014, when he was 19 years old, on charges of third-degree burglary, marijuana possession and resisting arrest.

Fields spent a day in jail after that arrest, and eight days in jail that same month after failing to appear in court. Fields was released from jail later that month while his case was pending, but did not stay out of trouble long.

In March 2014, Fields was charged with first-degree robbery for an incident at Stovall's Barber Shop on West Second Street. Fields pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary, receiving a stolen firearm and carrying a concealed deadly weapon for a total sentence of 12 years. Fields did not serve that long.

Fields was charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, possession of a hangun by a felon and five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment in connection to a July 27, 2018, armed robbery at a home on East Ninth Street. Court records say Fields and two other men went to a home of an acquaintance and committed a robbery, with Fields shooting a handgun into the floor and pistol whipping the victim.

In addition to the charges stemming from the incident, Fields was also charged with being a persistent felony offender. A person found guilty of a felony who has a prior felony record can be found to be a PFO, which carries lengthy sentences.

In May 2020, Fields pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, possession of a handgun by a felon, felony wanton endangerment and misdemeanor charges. By that point, Fields had already pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and to a charge of assaulting a deputy jailer at the Daviess County Detention Center. Fields received a total sentence of 16.5 years in prison.

The PFO charge could have put Fields in prison for a minimum of 10 years before being eligible for parole, or for a maximum of 20 years. But, state law says a person cannot be found to be a persistent felony offender if they plead guilty, as Fields did. PFO charges in the assault and drug trafficking cases also had to be dropped as part of the guilty plea.

While incarcerated on the convictions, Fields wrote letters to the presiding Circuit judge, Jay Wethington, asking that his sentence be suspended so he could be released.

"This time, being locked up has been more impactful, not only to me but my family as well," Fields wrote in September 2020. "I feel as if they need me out there with them now more than ever. I know this prison lifestyle and reputation is something I no longer want to associate myself with.

"I'm just asking for one chance to show not only you but myself that I can function and maintain out there like I'm supposed to."

Wethington denied Fields' motion to suspend his sentence.

But Fields didn't have much longer to wait for release. At the beginning of 2022, Fields was placed on supervised release by the parole board. Fields' supervised release began Jan. 19 and was supposed to last until 2033.

The Department of Corrections had not provided information on Fields' parole as of Friday afternoon. Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Kuegel said he is notified when an offender is released on parole but is not given the reasons behind the parole board's decision.

Soon, Fields was back in the system.

On June 22, Owensboro police charged Fields with a number of new offenses, including first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (carfentanil or fentanyl), receiving stolen property over $10,000, trafficking in synthetic drugs, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and tampering with evidence. Leak's death had happened nine days before Fields was arrested on the drug charges.

Carroll also has a long arrest record going back to 2013, with charges ranging from second-degree robbery to drug trafficking and third-degree assault of a police or probation officer. In 2019, Carroll was charged with promoting contraband for a plan to supply drugs to Fields while Fields was in the county jail.

Notably, Carroll was charged with first-degree wanton endangerment in May 2021 for shooting at a man in an altercation near in the 4600 block of Frederica Street.

Carroll was last sentenced in November in connection to the May incident. Carroll pled guilty to second-degree wanton endangerment, a misdemeanor, in exchange for a 12-month jail sentence. Carroll was given credit for time already spent in jail and placed on probation for two years.

Carroll was released from jail Nov. 18. He was out of jail less than five months before returning on new charges.

In early March, Carroll was charged with trafficking in a controlled substance, receiving a stolen firearm, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a felon. Carroll was released from jail on March 11.

Carroll was apprehended in Alabama on June 28, 15 days after Leak's death. Media reports say Carroll and a woman fled from police in a vehicle, striking a person on a bicycle before being apprehended.

Carroll is be extradited from Alabama and is scheduled to be arraigned in Daviess Circuit Court on Aug. 18. Fields will make his first appearance on the murder charge on Aug. 30.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse