Columbus jury weighs man’s fate in trial over shotgun slaying after knife fight
A Columbus jury was deciding Thursday whether a suspect killed a man here with a single shotgun blast to the chest after the two engaged in a knife fight in a church parking lot.
Ruschaun Demario “Detroit” Burton was on trial in the July 31, 2018 fatal shooting of Rashard Williams, found lying in pooling blood in front a residence at 2713 Dawson St. after he was hit with 18 pellets of buckshot, authorities said.
The shooting followed a 10:54 a.m. 911 call reporting a shirtless man knife-fighting with another in the parking lot of the Macedonia Baptist Church at 2717 Cusseta Road. That was followed by another report of someone “pumped” around the corner from the church, where officers found Williams, 32, police said.
Witnesses told investigators the dispute started at 2722 Cusseta Road, where they heard Burton asking Williams why he was showing him disrespect, investigators said. Prosecutors said Burton frequented that address, where police searching the home later found an empty box of No. 2 buckshot, consistent with the pellets recovered from Williams’ body.
After the two men fought at the church, Williams walked away, but Burton followed with a shotgun, raising it to his shoulder and firing once, witnesses said.
Two women said they saw the shooting. Both knew Burton, and both identified him as the gunman, calling him by the nickname “Detroit” and picking his picture from police photo lineups, said Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter Hoffman, who aided lead prosecutor Assistant District Attorney Breanna Foster with the case.
During closing arguments Thursday, defense attorney William Kendrick alleged the two women conspired to blame the shooting on Burton, to protect the true killer both knew. One of the women drove that man to the scene of the shooting, and would have lied about what happened to ensure she shared no blame for the homicide, Kendrick said.
“This case comes down to identification, period, point-blank,” Kendrick told jurors, noting a law enforcement officer near the shooting saw someone other than Burton running away.
Burton’s brother testified that he picked Burton up near the scene that day in his red Kia Sorento, implying Burton left before the shooting. Hoffman said that explains how Burton got away, but it also confirms he was present at the shooting, and it doesn’t prove he left before Williams was shot.
No evidence showed the two women who testified against Burton were lying about what they saw, Hoffman told jurors: “There’s no chance of mistaken identity in this case.”
Kendrick said the women were “shown to not be credible,” which created enough reasonable doubt to acquit Burton.
Burton, 42, was tried on charges of malice or intentional murder; of felony murder for killing Williams while committing the felony of aggravated assault; of aggravated assault; and of using a gun to commit a crime. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Foster filed a Nov. 18 notice asking that Burton be treated as a repeat offender, as he has a Dec. 9, 1997 conviction for armed robbery in Tuscola County, Mich., and a March 25, 2010 conviction for manufacturing marijuana in Ingham County, Mich.
Because of that history, he has been charged also with being a convicted felon with a firearm.
Authorities here got warrants for Burton’s arrest on Aug. 2, 2018, but could not find him until U.S. Marshals captured him in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 2019.
Jurors began deliberating the evidence around 11:20 a.m. Superior Court Judge Bryant Culpepper is presiding at the trial. Culpepper is from Macon, and was assigned here temporarily to fill in for retiring Columbus Judge William Rumer, who left office Aug. 31.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 5:01 PM.