A 29-year-old fugitive wanted for first-degree murder and escaping custody was captured on October 13 in Burien, Washington, after a multi-agency manhunt. Derrick Laquan Stell Jr. was apprehended in the 11000 block of Des Moines Memorial Drive, where he allegedly attempted to flee from officers before being taken into custody. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Stell was found in possession of drugs and a firearm.
The arrest ends a search for a man linked to a violent encounter in Des Moines that left a bystander dead. As reported by KOMO News, Stell was the subject of both a Washington Department of Corrections escape warrant and a Des Moines police warrant for the September 20 shooting death of 31-year-old Abraham Logan.
The All-Star Bar Shooting
The events leading to the murder charges began outside the All-Star Bar. Prosecutors allege that Stell and another man engaged in an assault, which prompted Abraham Logan to intervene. In a sequence of events that turned a public space into a crime scene, prosecutors claim the two suspects chased Logan and shot him. Logan was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Violent Confrontation with Law Enforcement
The capture of Stell was not a quiet surrender. The U.S. Marshals Service noted that Stell tried to run during the arrest, though he was quickly overtaken. The most disturbing detail emerged during the booking process: Stell told officers that he had intended to kill a law enforcement officer and subsequently die by “suicide by cop.”
Because of the firearm found during the arrest, Stell now faces an additional charge of first-degree unlawful possession of a gun.
The Marshals Service’s Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, along with the state Department of Corrections, FBI, and Des Moines police, took part in the effort to locate Stell.
NEW: The US Marshals arrested fugitive Derrick Laquan Stell Jr., 29, who was wanted by the Washington State Department of Corrections on an escape warrant stemming from original charges of drive-by shooting and first-degree robbery. He was also wanted by the Des Moines Police…
The Systemic Stakes of Fugitive Recovery
The fact that Stell was operating under an escape warrant from the Department of Corrections highlights a tension in the American carceral system regarding incarceration and supervision.
Others suggest that the failure to prevent the escape reflects issues within the Washington Department of Corrections. Regardless of the policy debate, the human cost in this instance was the life of a 31-year-old man who simply tried to do the right thing.
The coordination required for this arrest—linking the FBI, state corrections, and local police—demonstrates the “net” approach to fugitive recovery. By sharing intelligence across jurisdictions, law enforcement was able to pin Stell to a specific block in Burien, preventing further potential casualties in a scenario where the suspect had already expressed a desire to kill officers.
As the legal process moves forward, the focus shifts to the second man involved in the shooting. While Stell is now behind bars, the full details of the shooting of Abraham Logan will likely emerge during the discovery phase of the first-degree murder trial.
The question that remains for the Des Moines community is whether the streets outside the All-Star Bar are safer now following this arrest.
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