Prosecutors on Friday accused a Chicago man with a history of domestic violence allegations of murdering his girlfriend at their North Side apartment before fleeing to Washington state, where he allegedly began living under a fake name.
Chicago police found Da’J Flowers, 36, dead inside her apartment in the 6900 block of North Bell Avenue on February 6 after co-workers asked CPD to conduct a wellness check when she failed to show up for work at the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Flowers was murdered the night before, prosecutors said, after 33-year-old Darreon Plummer allegedly shot her multiple times. Flowers and Plummer had been dating and living together since 2023.
Throughout their relationship, Flowers told family members and co-workers that Plummer was physically abusive, Assistant State’s Attorney Madison Freeman said during Plummer’s detention hearing Friday. Some friends and family members had also seen a video from earlier in the relationship that showed Plummer striking, choking, and throwing Flowers to the ground, according to Freeman.
While at work on February 5, Flowers exchanged text messages with Plummer in which he accused her of stealing money. Co-workers noticed that she appeared upset while speaking on the phone about money, and she left the office around 3 p.m. Around 7:28 p.m., Flowers texted a family member saying she planned to leave the apartment. When the family member asked what had happened with Plummer, Flowers never responded, according to prosecutors.
Moments after Flowers sent that text, an upstairs neighbor heard numerous gunshots. A nearby surveillance camera recorded 16 shots, and the neighbor also heard a woman crying for help and someone struggling to breathe, Freeman said. The neighbor called police, and CPD officers went to the apartment Flowers shared with Plummer. But after knocking and receiving no response, the officers left without entering the apartment.
Flowers’ co-workers contacted police the next day after she failed to report for work. Officers returned to the apartment for a wellness check and found the door unlocked and slightly ajar, Freeman said. Flowers was lying on the floor, partially blocking the doorway. Investigators found the alleged murder weapon hidden in a pile of Plummer’s clothing.
Cellphone records indicated that Plummer’s phone continued to connect with a cellular tower near the apartment until shortly after the shooting. Investigators said he then walked around the neighborhood while talking on the phone before getting into a vehicle. Plummer did not show up for work the next day and did not attend Flowers’ funeral or memorial service, according to Freeman.
Freeman said Plummer fled to Oak Harbor, Washington, a town on Whidbey Island northwest of Seattle, where he obtained a new cellphone and a Washington state driver’s license under the name Dajuan Jackson.
On June 13, Oak Harbor police responding to a disturbance at a water park encountered Plummer’s new girlfriend, who told officers that he had threatened to hit her after accusing her of talking to someone else, Freeman said.
When contacted by Oak Harbor police, Plummer allegedly identified himself as Dajuan Jackson. It was not immediately clear whether he was charged with any wrongdoing in connection with that encounter or whether Oak Harbor police determined that he was providing a false name or had fraudulently obtained state identification.
Earlier this month, a Cook County judge signed an arrest warrant for Plummer in connection with Flowers’ murder, and Washington authorities took him into custody. Judge D’Anthony Thedford ordered Plummer detained following Friday’s hearing.
Plummer has a history of criminal convictions in addition to the domestic violence allegations described by prosecutors. In 2015, he was convicted of unlawful use or possession of a weapon by a felon and possession of a firearm by a street gang member, prosecutors said. In that case, Plummer returned fire after people shot at him, but his gunfire struck a friend in the back and killed him, according to prosecutors. He was also convicted of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in 2017.
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