Law enforcement arrests man in Deer Park homicide case
Published 10:30 am Friday, May 15, 2026
Clallam County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Port Angeles man in connection with a homicide that occurred in February on Deer Park Road.
Clinton Laverne King, 46, was arrested Thursday, May 14 in the 1300 block of West 16th Street on investigation of second-degree murder, the Sheriff’s Office said. He was being held in the Clallam County Jail on Friday.
Detectives previously established probable cause to arrest King and obtained a search warrant for the residence, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Stevens Middle School was briefly placed on a modified lockdown Thursday as a precaution while the operation took place, the agency added.
King was set to appear in Clallam County Superior Court on Friday, May 15.
During an investigation that involved more than 45 search warrants, including one that was executed in the 1300 block of West Ninth Street on Monday, detectives located a vehicle on Thursday near Black Diamond Road in Port Angeles. Investigators and undercover detectives with the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) conducted surveillance and followed the vehicle to West 16th Street, and the Peninsula Crisis Response Team (CRT) was called to assist with the operation, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Before CRT arrived, deputies observed King preparing to leave the residence on a motorcycle. To prevent a potential pursuit and ensure public safety, deputies contacted King immediately and took him into custody without incident outside the residence, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A vehicle believed to be associated with the homicide also was seized as evidence, the agency added.
The investigation began on Feb. 21, when deputies responded to a suspicious death in the 6300 block of Deer Park Road east of Port Angeles. It was later determined that Danny Steven Kendrick, 73, died from gunshot wounds, and the case was classified as a homicide on March 5.
During the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Port Angeles Police Department, OPNET, Peninsula Crisis Response Team, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air & Marine Unit and the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team and Crime Laboratory.
Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 360-417-2459 or submit information online at www.clallamcountywa.gov/497/sheriff.
