CLEARLAKE – Clearlake Police have taken a second man into custody in connection with a May 4 stabbing.
Bernard Crowder, 61, was arrested late Friday on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with the death of John Rayford McCoy Jr., 42.
McCoy died last Friday after he was stabbed repeatedly during an early-morning incident at a Lakeshore Drive apartment complex, according to a statement from Clearlake Police Lt. Mike Hermann.
McCoy, whose family is from the Bay Area, had been staying at the Clearlake apartment complex over the last month, Hermann said Monday.
“The only contact we had with him was this incident,” Hermann added.
As Lake County News previously reported, Clearlake Police were dispatched to the apartments shortly after midnight May 4 where they found McCoy still conscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds.
Officers also found at the scene 42-year-old handyman Andre Lafayette Stevens, holding a knife with bloody hands, according to a Clearlake Police report.
Before McCoy died, police reported that he identified Stevens as his attacker.
A Monday morning autopsy of McCoy confirmed that he died as as result of multiple stab wounds, Clearlake Police reported.
Stevens is being held at the Lake County Jail on $1 million bail, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Clearlake Police said their investigation into McCoy's murder led them to Crowder, who they say had conspired with Stevens to commit a robbery. That, according to Clearlake Police, resulted in the altercation that led to McCoy's death.
During interviews, Hermann reported that Crowder and Stevens both admitted some involvement in the case, but they gave conflicting statements.
Stevens eventually admitted during questioning that he had stabbed McCoy, according to Hermann's report.
The District Attorney's Office reported Monday that it has charged Stevens with one count of murder with a special allegation that he used a “dangerous and deadly weapon” – a knife – in committing the crime.
On Monday afternoon, Stevens was arraigned on the charges in Judge Richard Martin's Department 2 courtroom, according to the statement from District Attorney Jon Hopkins' office.
Hopkins' statement reported that Stevens has previous felonies on his record.
They include a 1990 conviction for second-degree robbery in Santa Clara County, which would count as a “strike” under the Three Strikes Law, Hopkins' statement said.
In addition, Stevens served a term in the state prison for felony battery against a peace officer in 1999, according to Hopkins' office. In the five years subsequent to the conclusion of the prison term, Stevens was convicted of another felony and went back to prison, the statement said.
Stevens, who is being defended by attorney Thomas Quinn, is due to appear in Superior Court's Department 4 on Friday morning, the District Attorney's Office reported. Deputy District Attorney John J. Langan is prosecuting this case.
Crowder remains in the Lake County Jail on $10,000 bail.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Det. Towle in the Clearlake Police Department's Detective Division, 994-8251.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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