On Thursday Judge William Jackson found probable cause on the lesser charge of second-degree murder while armed in the case against Burnis Cole, suspected of fatal stabbing of 40-year-old Raasheem Jamal Rich. Prosecutors had sought a charge of first-degree murder.
According to arrest documents, video surveillance from a liquor store on Alabama Avenue Southeast recorded an altercation between Cole and Rich on January 10, which resulted in Rich’s death.
Cole entered the liquor store with two other men and Rich followed shortly afterwards, according to the documents. They began arguing, but then Cole punched Rich. Employees of the liquor store escorted the group out of the store, with Cole and the two men exiting before Rich.
The documents say that Cole produced a knife from his pants pocket as he exited the store, and video shows him waiting for Rich outside of the store.
Just before leaving the view of the camera, Cole is seen moving closer to Rich with his right arm extended. Moments later, Rich runs into an adjacent parking lot, rips his shirt off, and then collapses to the sidewalk in front of the liquor store parking lot, according to documents in the case.
Rich died on the scene from a single stab wound to his left chest that punctured his heart; police say they did not recover any weapons from the scene.
