The man accused of fatally shooting Howard University student Omar Sykes may have believed the safety on his weapon was on, according to charging documents in the case.
Appearing in court Wednesday, 26-year-old Rasdavid Lagarde was ordered held in the case on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Sykes was found shot July 4 in the 700 block of Fairmont Street Northwest around 11:30 p.m; he later died at a local hospital.
Police believe his death was the result of an attempted robbery.
According to charging documents, a witness who was with Sykes before the shooting said that he noticed two men following them in the 700 block of Fairmont Street Northwest. When the witness turned around, one man produced a black handgun and stated, “Don’t run… get on the ground.” The second man, holding a silver handgun, grabbed Sykes by the arm.
During this time, the first man said, “Oh you’re looking at us… you’re looking at us?” and hit the witness in the head, causing the witness to fall on the ground.
According to the witness, Sykes was beginning to move to the ground when the second man made a gesture as if he were going to “pistol whip” Sykes. Then the witness heard a single gunshot and saw that Sykes was shot.
Another witness told police about an early morning phone call on July 5 with someone they knew as “Ras”. In the call Ras said that he shot an individual during the course of a botched robbery, the witness told police, documents state. When this witness saw Ras later that morning, Ras told the witness that he had “f**ked up”. Documents state that the witness thought Ras “appeared as if he was not himself.”
Ras then said that he was at a bar when he saw an individual he intended to rob, the witness said, documents say. According to the witness, Ras said that after he left, he attempted to rob the individual and it didn’t go as planned. The witness told police that Ras said he and Sykes tussled with the gun and the gun went off.
Documents state that Ras told the witness he believed the safety was on when the gun fired.
During the investigation, detectives determined a phone number associated with Lagarde placed phone calls minutes after the murder, in the area of the murder.
Later, the second witness identified a photo of Lagarde as the person it knew as “Ras”.
A preliminary hearing for Lagarde has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on November 13.
Charging documents have been added to the post below.
