Man Who Stole Wedding Ring Off Dying Woman’s Finger at Taco Bell Sentenced to 11 Years
Amy Renee Leiker, Wichita Eagle, March 31, 2015
A Wichita man will spend more than 11 years in prison for stealing a wedding ring and other items from a woman who was dying from a brain aneurysm in a Taco Bell drive-through in December 2013.
Sedgwick County District Judge Christopher Magana ordered Daquantrius Johnson to serve the 136-month term consecutive to other sentences he received for crimes committed while on felony probation in a 2013 burglary case. The sentences in those cases totaled 111 months, which means Johnson, 21, will be incarcerated for about 20 1/2 years.
Johnson’s attorney, Terry Beall, had asked for leniency from the judge during Monday’s hearing, suggesting his client be sentenced to probation again.
But Magana denied the request, telling Johnson: “Unfortunately, you have become a predator on others in our society . . . and the public must be protected from predators and the community must be safeguarded.
“I have considered your situation and your history, and there is much about that that is regrettable. But it’s also my job to consider the victim in this case, Danielle Zimmerman,” Magana said.
“The evidence at jury trial was that you were the one who went to her car and you were the one that robbed her. The evidence at jury trial was that you were the only one seen with and in possession of her wedding ring after this crime. The law does not require that you assist someone in a time of need. But it does prohibit you from attacking someone in their time of need.”
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A jury in December convicted Johnson of aggravated burglary, robbery and misdemeanor theft for his role in the Dec. 29, 2013, robbery of Danielle Zimmerman, a 43-year-old mother and wife.
Prosecutors say Johnson, while he was with two other men, reached into Zimmerman’s truck and stole her purse and the ring off of her finger after she suffered a fatal brain aneurysm at the Taco Bell at 3725 E. Harry. She had gone to get dinner for her family when she fell ill in the drive-through lane and her truck hit the restaurant’s speaker box.
She died in a hospital the following day.
Police arrested Johnson, Keith Hickles and Quanique Thomas-Hameen after receiving a Crime Stoppers tip. Hickles in December pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and was sentenced to nine months in jail. Thomas-Hameen, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft and aiding a felon, was ordered to 19 months in prison in October.
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