Police arrest woman, say she helped clean up blood in homicide aftermath

The Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney’s office has charged a former person of interest in the Domorlo McCaster homicide investigation.

Clarissa Simpson, 28, of Cape Girardeau has been charged with one count of tampering with physical evidence; police say she helped clean blood from the vehicle in which McCaster was killed. Her bond was set at $50,000 cash only.

Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad detectives received an anonymous call stating McCaster was in a gold vehicle when he was shot and killed, according to a probable-cause statement from Lt. Don Perry. Detectives later learned from a witness McCaster was last seen in a gold GMC Envoy with Rodney Smith and Terrell Hunt, also determined to be persons of interest in the investigation, and Malcolm Harris, 24, of Cape Girardeau, later charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse May 27.

Two witnesses told major case squad investigators they were in the 2004 GMC Envoy when Harris, sitting in the back seat, shot McCaster in the back of the head, according to a probable-cause statement from detective Joe Thomas.

McCaster’s body later was dumped in a wooded area near Ranney Park in Cape Girardeau. It was found by landscapers May 19. Investigators determined McCaster likely was killed either May 13 or 14, and McCaster’s body had been at the scene for several days, Thomas wrote.

The vehicle is owned by Shaneika Robinson, Rodney Smith’s girlfriend, according to Perry’s statement. Detectives made contact with Robinson’s sister, Bianca Robinson-Rainey of Dyersburg, Tennessee, who said Robinson and Simpson left the vehicle May 15 at her house. Robinson-Rainey said she saw blood and bleach stains on the front passenger seat and the vehicle smelled of both blood and bleach, Perry wrote. Smith and Robinson returned to Dyersburg several days later, and they told Robinson-Rainey that McCaster had been killed in the vehicle, according to Perry’s statement.

Robinson was interviewed May 25 and said she was with Simpson on May 14 at Simpson’s house on Montgomery Street, according to the statement. She woke up at about 6 a.m. and she saw blood in her vehicle on the front passenger seat and in between the seats, Perry wrote. Smith already was cleaning the vehicle with Harris standing in the vicinity, she told Perry. She then helped try to clean the blood using a rag while Simpson brought out cleaning supplies from the house, Perry wrote. Robinson and Simpson then took the vehicle to Illinois and parked it on the side of the road, according to the statement. Later Robinson and Simpson took the vehicle to Tennessee, with Simpson in a different vehicle so she could give Robinson a ride back to Missouri.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

Ranney Park, Cape Girardeau, Mo.