Testimony: Woman helped clean vehicle used in homicide

A Sikeston, Missouri, woman testified the defendant provided cleaning supplies to help clean a vehicle that had been the site of a homicide the night before and helped hide the vehicle in Illinois and Tennessee.

Judge Craig Brewer found there was sufficient probable cause to bound Clarissa Simpson, 28, of Cape Girardeau over for an arraignment Aug. 8. Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh charged Simpson with tampering with physical evidence May 27.

Simpson was the girlfriend of Malcolm U. Harris, 24, of Cape Girardeau, who was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse, according to the testimony of Shaneika M. Robinson, 27, of Sikeston. Harris shot Domorlo McCaster, 28, of Cape Girardeau in the back of the head while inside the vehicle May 13, according to a probable-cause statement from Cape Girardeau police detective Joe Thomas. Harris and another man allegedly dumped McCaster’s body in a wooded area near Ranney Park in Cape Girardeau, where it was found May. 19.

Robinson was arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence in the case, as was her boyfriend at the time, Rodney Dewayne Smith, 28, of Cape Girardeau.

About 2 a.m. May 14, Robinson said, she went to Simpson’s house in the 1700 block of Montgomery Street as a passenger in her 2004 GMC Envoy she allowed Smith to borrow that night.

She woke up just before 7 a.m. to the sound of commotion at the house and saw Smith and Simpson gathering cleaning supplies from the kitchen, she said. She went outside and saw blood on the front passenger seat of her vehicle, she said.

“I asked what happened, and they really did not want to tell us, but somebody had gotten shot in my vehicle,” Robinson said.

Smith wiped the seat of the vehicle using some of the supplies, Robinson said. She said Harris, Smith, Simpson and her discussed what should be done.

Robinson said she was told to burn the vehicle but argued against it because she still was making payments. Instead, Simpson and she agreed to leave the vehicle somewhere. They drove to Illinois that morning, where they left the SUV along a dirt road, Robinson said. Robinson could not remember the name of the road, saying she did not know Illinois.

Two days later, Robinson and Simpson went back to the vehicle, drove it to La Vergne, Tennessee, and parked it at Robinson’s sister’s house, Robinson said.

“Clarissa never cleaned the vehicle; she just trailed me to both locations,” Robinson said.

Later, Robinson and Smith went back to the car and tried to clean it, but Simpson was not with them, Robinson said.

Robinson said she told Harris she burned the vehicle because she was scared.

Simpson’s lawyer, Jason Tilley, said the evidence in the case, which consisted of Robinson’s testimony and the testimony of Cape Girardeau Police Cpl. Cary Dunnevan, was barely enough to bind over the case, and the bond for Simpson was outrageously high. Simpson’s bond was set at $50,000, cash only.

“Fifty thousand is the highest bond I’ve seen on a D felony,” Tilley said.

Limbaugh argued Simpson’s willingness to cover up a serious crime and leave the state present a danger to the public.

Tilley pointed out Simpson left Missouri but came back twice in part because she has three small children.

Brewer agreed to lower Simpson’s bond to $10,000 cash or surety.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

1700 block of Montgomery Street, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Ranney Park, Cape Girardeau, Mo.