In the probable cause statement used as the basis of the charges against Prock, a state trooper says Prock eluded officers for several hours. A couple of hours after escaping from Degase, a state trooper stopped a car in which Prock had hitched a ride. During the traffic stop, Prock escaped again. She was finally taken into custody that evening.
The probable cause statement says Prock confessed to two troopers that evening that:
- she and Phillips spent the night in the car in the middle of the road where Phillips was shot;
- she had meth in the car;
- she’d consumed meth four days previously;
- she’d lied to Degase about her identity;
- she resisted arrest and fought with the sheriff;
- she heard Phillips try to convince Degase not to hurt her and to let her go; and
- she heard shots fired as she was fleeing.
“Prock state she felt responsible for Phillips being shot. Prock believed Phillips would still be alive if she would not have resisted,” the probable cause statement says.
The trooper who wrote the probable cause statement says he found a small container of meth in the car that Prock and Phillips were driving. The search of the Cavalier also found a concrete saw and two flashlights that were stolen from the Chadwick Fire Department on Aug. 26.
A judge set a $40,000 bond for Prock, who has been in a county jail outside of Douglas County since her arrest on Aug. 30. Her first court appearance on the new charges is scheduled for Sept. 10. She also faces a probation violation hearing on Oct. 2 for her conviction of using someone else’s credit card in 2009. Court documents show Prock has lived in Wasola but currently has no permanent address.
Wall said in a telephone interview on Friday afternoon that the charges against Prock do not mean that Degase is cleared of wrongdoing for the fatal shooting of Phillips. The prosecutor said he hasn’t received a report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, but has requested for the investigation to be expedited.
The probable cause statement against Prock is the first time that the weapon carried by Phillips was identified as a large pair of pliers. Up to now, law enforcement officers were vague about what the weapon was.
Once he receives the report, Wall plans to ask a judge to empanel a coroner’s jury for an inquest on the shooting. A coroner's inquest is a fact-finding hearing to determine a cause of death and the circumstances that led to the death. The jury hears testimony from witnesses and investigators. After the jury's ruling, the prosecutor decides if a criminal charge is appropriate.
