Two Redby Men Plead Guilty in Connection to November Killing

MINNEAPOLIS—Earlier today in federal court, two men from the town of Redby pleaded guilty in connection to the November 3, 2010, killing of one man and the wounding of two others on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. On the day their jury trial was scheduled to begin, Donald Leigh Clark, Jr., age 23, pleaded guilty to one count of discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence, specifically the shooting of Julian Keith DeMarrias. Clark’s co-defendant Cruze Anthony White, age 23, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter for aiding and abetting Clark. The men were indicted on January 19, 2011, and entered their pleas before United States District Court Judge John R. Tunheim.

A law enforcement affidavit filed in the case states that on November 3, 2010, the Red Lake Tribal Police Department responded to a reported shooting and found three adult men in and around a vehicle, all with gunshot wounds. They were taken to Indian Health Services for treatment, where DeMarrias was pronounced dead. Clark was arrested in Redby on January 15, 2011, when law enforcement officers found him hiding in the backseat of a vehicle, under a blanket. White surrendered himself to authorities on January 24, 2011.

For their crimes, Clark faces a potential maximum penalty of life in prison, with a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years. White faces a potential maximum penalty of 15 years. Judge Tunheim will determine their sentences at a future hearing.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department, with assistance from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, and the U.S. Marshals Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.  Be sure to get the latest and best police news from these agencies!

Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal jurisdiction reservation, some of the crimes that occur there are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.