Aryan Brotherhood member sentenced to decades for gunning down Tri-Cities man

A member of the Aryan Brotherhood was sentenced Friday to nearly 34 years in prison for killing a man at a Richland apartment complex nearly three years ago.

Benton County Superior Court Judge David Petersen agreed to the recommendation of Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller to sentence Kyle A. Johnson-Clark, 29, to the maximum sentence of the range set by the Washington state Legislature.

Johnson-Clark was found guilty by a jury in January of murdering Daniel Rice, 30, in May 2019.

The West Richland man was running away when he was shot in the back of his head, back and arm.

Rice’s sister, Amanda Adams, and his mother, Juanita Austin, said at the sentencing that his murder devastated their family, the Benton County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Facebook post.

“They acknowledged that while the maximum sentence will not bring Daniel back, having full justice for Daniel and his family was very important,” said the post.

Johnson-Clark claimed that he shot Rice in self defense, but the jury found otherwise after his two-week trial.

The judge said that the jury “did not buy what you were selling,” according to a Facebook post by the Richland Police Department.

“They took more time trying to figure out the procedure for watching a video than they did deciding a verdict,” Petersen noted.

Gun found in river

Rice reportedly “had a relationship” with Johnson-Clark’s girlfriend and may have been at the Columbia Park Apartments to see her on the day he was shot.

The two had used methamphetamine together while she was dating Johnson-Clark, according to court documents.

When the woman told her boyfriend, Johnson-Clark, that Rice was in the parking lot of the Jadwin Avenue apartment complex, Johnson-Clark grabbed his gun and ran downstairs.

A short time later he fired at Rice as the victim tried to run away, according to documents.

Rice died at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland with his mother by his side.

Richland detectives later found Johnson-Clark’s gun tossed in the Columbia River near the Snyder Boat Launch in Leslie Groves Park. The slide was forward, indicating the magazine was still partially loaded.

The remaining 9mm ammunition in the magazine matched the empty casings at the shooting scene.

A second, full magazine was found in nearby brush where Johnson-Clark had been seen walking after the shooting, said police.

Johnson-Clark allegedly told his girlfriend to tell police he had been in Spokane during the shooting, court documents said.

Then, after hearing a witness reported seeing him at the apartments that day, Johnson-Clark told his girlfriend to say Rice had a gun and shot at Johnson-Clark first, documents said.

Investigators previously said that no weapon was found on Rice.

Johnson-Clark was arrested two months later in St. Louis, Mo., and returned to Washington.

Both the jury and the judge in the case praised the investigative work of the Richland Police Department.

This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 12:28 PM.