A falsely accused Akron man, fearing retribution from the family of a slain gunshot victim, sat in jail for nearly 10 days after investigators cleared his name.
Phillip Key has been on the run, lying low in Canton, ever since he got out of jail Friday. Among other places, he has avoided visiting his 1-year-old son in Akron where he might bump into the family of Jerry Stallings.
Stallings was shot to death at the Centerfolds strip club last month. Key was there, but didn’t participate in the slaying, as eyewitnesses had led police to believe.
“This has messed up my head. They have endangered my life. I can’t even see my son,” Key said, adding that he doesn’t frequent the strip club but happened to be there the night of the shooting.
Shown video footage, eyewitnesses told police that Key, 32, held Stallings down while another man pulled the trigger. Prosecutors, based on the statements collected by detectives, charged Key with a felony and issued a warrant for his arrest. On Nov. 29, Ohio.com published the charges and photos of Key and Daymond Hooks, 29, of Fourth Avenue in Akron.
Hooks, the suspected shooter, remains at large. Key said he doesn’t know Hooks.
Key turned himself in the day after the charges were published. He denied the allegation. A judge sent him to the county jail on a $500,000 bond, he said.
That was Nov. 30. He got out Dec. 11.
“Somewhere between the prosecutor and the detective’s office — when they dropped the charges — nobody notified the county jail that the charges were dropped,” said Akron police Lt. Rick Edwards.
Detectives interrogated Key soon after he was apprehended. “He admitted he was [at the strip club],” Edwards said. “But he wasn’t a participant. The case detectives followed up and verified what he said.”
Key said he was outside the strip club talking to another patron when he “heard a pop.” He ran and didn’t look back.
Edwards said investigators dropped the complicity-to-murder charge against Key on Dec. 2. “They were satisfied that he was not involved in the actual homicide,” Edwards said.
But because the court failed to communicate the good news to Key’s jailers, the man remained locked up for nine more days. Edwards said such an impactful “miscommunication” between court clerks and jailers is unusual.
Key, admittedly “noided” (or paranoid) by the ordeal, said he spent most of his time behind bars in “the hole,” separated from the general population where he suspected more of Stallings’ relatives might be.
“They tried to say I was manipulating the system because I was afraid for my life,” Key said of the trouble he caused when voicing concern for his safety.
Complicity to publicity
Key’s fears, and his quick decision to turn himself in, followed a police request to publicize his face and the charges against him. Ohio.com and other Northeast Ohio news organizations obliged that request.
Before asking for help from the media, officers typically visit a suspect’s parents’ or last known address, Edwards said. They don’t chase every possible place that suspects might be, whether hiding or unaware that police are looking for them.
Key was not available Wednesday afternoon to explain if he even lived where police thought he did. Edwards didn’t have specific details about efforts to contact Key, only that camera footage placed him at the scene and “multiple” testimonies raised suspicion.
Police also don’t publicize or actively pursue many lesser crimes, like petty thefts.
“Check the court’s website. There’s probably 15,000 bench warrants,” Edwards said. “It’s impossible to go out and check on every warrant that is issued.”
Media attention, which can help investigations or — as was the case for Key — potentially tarnish reputations, is solicited in only the most egregious or prominent cases.
“We usually reserve a press release or notice to the media on more violent crimes or high profile crimes,” Edwards said.
Doug Livingston can be reached at 330-996-3792 or dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @DougLivingstonABJ.