Attorney claims Lancaster shooting death of 17-year-old was accident

Lawyers for two convicted felons, charged in the August shooting death of a Lancaster teen, claimed in court Thursday that the car the three men were in was shot and that the shooting was accidental.

However, prosecutors said there is no evidence the men were targets of others.

Daquan Blackmon, 17, was riding in the back seat of a car with driver Quinterius Clinton and passenger Travis Belk, prosecutors say.

Blackmon was shot in the back of the head and killed, 6th Circuit Solicitor Lisa Collins said in a bond hearing Thursday. Both defendants asked for bond after their arrest in August.

Belk, 25, the accused shooter, is charged with murder. Clinton, 23 is charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

Clinton’s lawyer, Alston Devinney, said Thursday that “shots were fired at the vehicle” that the men were riding in, and that Belk fired back.

Francis Bell, Belk’s lawyer, said in court the shooting was “accidental” after the suspects’ “vehicle was being fired at.”

Collins told Judge Dan Hall that there is “no verification” that the accused men were being shot at at the time Blackmon was killed.

Hall denied bond for both Clinton and Belk. Hall said in court that both present “a danger to the community” because of the guns involved and the seriousness of the crime.

Clinton was on probation, after being released from prison, at the time of the killings, Hall said, and Belk was out on bond for other alleged crimes at the time.

No trial date has been set.

This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Attorney claims Lancaster shooting death of 17-year-old was accident."