Nashville, Tennessee detectives this afternoon charged 28-year-old Daniel Clark and 15-year-old Trinity Quinn, both of Dayton, Tennessee, with criminal homicide, especially aggravated robbery and attempted auto theft in connection with last night’s brutal shooting death of Exxon market clerk John Stevens inside the 6955 Charlotte Pike store.

Clark and Quinn were taken into custody at 10:15 this morning behind a tree line near the intersection of Old Hickory Boulevard and Charlotte Pike in Nashville. They complied with orders from a squad of officers from the Special Response Team and surrendered without incident. A dump truck driver traveling on Old Hickory Boulevard this morning recognized Quinn, who was standing at the edge of the roadway, from media accounts and quickly notified police. The Special Response Team, part of the large law enforcement response already in the immediate area, then spotted the two.

Clark and Quinn are accused of killing Stevens, 58, at 9:30 p.m. After interviews with the two, Nashville West Precinct detectives believe that they entered the Exxon market to force Stevens to give up his car keys so the two could flee the area. Surveillance video shows Clark confront Stevens at gunpoint as Quinn stands nearby inside the front door. When Clark pointed the gun at Stevens’ head at close range, Stevens grabbed at Clark’s gun hand. Clark stepped back and allegedly fired multiple rounds into Stevens’ body. Clark then went behind the counter and searched the clerk’s pockets. He took Stevens’ keys. Clark and Quinn went to a parked SUV at the side of the building and attempted to enter it. It was not Stevens’ vehicle so the door key would not work. Clark fired shots breaking the SUV’s window. The two attempted to steal the vehicle, but did not have an ignition key that worked. They then fled on foot.

Through interviews with the defendants, detectives believe they spent the night in the woods of West Nashville before being apprehended this morning.

It appears that Clark and Quinn have known each other for a number of years and have been planning to flee Dayton, Tennessee, together for the past several weeks. They arrived in Nashville late Monday night/early Tuesday morning and parked at the West Nashville Wal-Mart when, they said, the van that they were traveling in ran out of gas. The two stayed in the van in the Wal-Mart parking lot and walked around in the area Tuesday before going to the Exxon market, which is in eyesight of the Wal-Mart store. Neither individual had any connection to Nashville.

Photo courtesy of the Nashville Police Department