Gang member convicted of murder and assault of rivals

A King County Superior Court jury on Thursday convicted a 20-year-old man of murder and assault for leading an ambush against rival gang members outside a Rainier Valley apartment building two years ago that left a young man dead and at least two others wounded.

The jury had deliberated since Monday afternoon before finding Damario Dilliard guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault.

He faces a sentence of between 24 ¾ and 33 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.

Dilliard was arrested several months after the Aug. 28, 2007, attack that killed 19-year-old Antwan Horton and wounded Henry Harris and Kevin Rogers.

Dilliard was a member of the Deuce 8 street gang, while the victims were members of the Low Profile, or LP, gang, according to court documents in Dilliard's case.

At the time of the shootings, the gangs were involved in a bitter and violent feud stemming from the slaying of a founding member of the Deuce 8 gang, allegedly by a member of the LPs, according to documents.

The night of the shooting, Dilliard and some of his friends were visiting a woman at the Dakota Apartments on 33rd Avenue South. According to prosecutors, Dilliard was drinking heavily and playing with a pistol when the woman got a call that Horton, Harris and Rogers were going to stop by.

The woman told Dilliard and his friends to stay in a bedroom while the LP gang members were over, but Dilliard became agitated by their presence, according to prosecutors. One of his friends called other Deuce 8s to come to the apartment, saying Dilliard was "trapped" inside with LP members.

When the others arrived, Dilliard joined them outside, prosecutors said. When the LP members left the apartment, the group opened fire on them. Horton was killed instantly and Harris and Rogers were hit in the legs but managed to escape.

Prosecutors say DNA recovered from a pistol left at the scene matched Dilliard's. He was arrested the following January while attending the funeral for 17-year-old Allen Joplin, who was gunned down at a party in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood. Prosecutors say Joplin was a fellow Deuce 8.

Joplin's killers are still at large.

Ian Ith: 206-464.2109, or iith@seattletimes.com