Columbus jury reaches verdict in trial over shotgun slaying that followed knife fight
A Columbus jury has convicted Ruschaun Demario “Detroit” Burton of killing Rashard Williams with a shotgun blast after the two men had a knife fight in a church parking lot.
The jury found Burton guilty of felony murder, aggravated assault and using a gun to commit a crime in the July 31, 2018 fatal shooting that left Williams lying in a pool of blood in front a residence at 2713 Dawson St. He had been hit in the chest with 18 pellets of buckshot, authorities said.
Burton, 42, was tried also on a charge of malice or intentional murder, but jurors acquitted him on that count. A sentencing date has not been set. Burton faces life in prison.
Jurors began deliberating around 11:20 a.m. Thursday, and continued until 5 p.m. They resumed around 9:45 a.m. Friday and announced they had a verdict about 11 a.m., court officials said.
Burton was represented by Columbus attorney William Kendrick, who claimed police charged the wrong man because witnesses lied about what they saw.
The prosecutors were Assistant District Attorney Breanna Foster and Senior Assistant District Attorney Peter Hoffman, who had two women who knew Burton testify that they saw him shoot Williams.
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, an address Burton frequented, where police 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.
“This case comes down to identification, period, point-blank,” Kendrick told jurors in closing arguments, noting a law enforcement officer near the shooting saw someone other than Burton running away.
Hoffman countered that no evidence showed the two women who testified against Burton were lying about what they saw: “There’s no chance of mistaken identity in this case.”
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, Michigan, and a March 25, 2010 conviction for manufacturing marijuana in Ingham County, Michigan.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 2:33 PM.