Belleville man serving prison term charged in 2014 murder

A Belleville man serving his ninth month of a six-year prison term for an aggravated robbery he committed in 2013 was charged Friday in connection with the murder of another Belleville man nearly two years ago.

Thomas D. Flakes, 20, who has been in prison at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester since March, is the third person charged with first-degree murder in the homicide of Darrin Hayes II, 25. Hayes was shot dead around 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 2014, near the apartment complex where he lived in the 5900 block of Gateway Industrial Drive near the Belleville Crossing shopping center.

Also charged with first degree murder in connection with the homicide were Anthony P. Allen, 23, of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Amanda M. Kent, 28, of O’Fallon.

Kent pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an armed robbery on Feb. 18 and is scheduled for sentencing Tuesday, according to court records. She pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge.

Allen pleaded guilty to the murder charge on April 7. A sentencing date is not set.

A third person, Brittney M. Moore, 25, of Belleville, was charged with obstructing justice in the case but that charge was dismissed in a plea agreement in February 2014.

Neither the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department nor State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly would comment on how investigators came to suspect Flakes was involved in the homicide.

Court records show Flakes was arrested and charged in connection with the 2013 aggravated robbery for which he is currently serving the prison term on Feb. 10, 2014 — the day after Hayes was killed.

In addition to the murder charge, Flakes was charged in 2014 with two counts of home invasion with a firearm, a count of armed robbery and a count of aggravated cruelty to animals stemming from a separate 2013 incident in Belleville, but those charges were dismissed.

It wasn’t immediately clear Monday whether Flakes was brought to St. Clair County when he was charged Friday or whether he remains in prison.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Belleville man serving prison term charged in 2014 murder."