Vincent Purvis was gunned down in broad daylight during a drive-by shooting on Yuma Street Southeast, according to court documents released Monday.
Robert Osborne, who was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of second-degree murder, will remain in custody pending a preliminary hearing next month. Osborne, 41, is paralyzed from the chest down and attended a presentment Monday in a wheelchair.
Witnesses told police that on Jan. 15—the day 20-year-old Purvis was killed—a silver Impala was seen driving in the 600 block of Yuma Street Southeast, charging documents say.
Someone inside the vehicle fired multiple shots at Purvis, knocking him to the ground, a witness told police. When he attempted to stand up, a door to the car opened and Purvis was shot again and collapsed.
Another witness saw the silver car flee the scene moments after hearing gunshots, with its front rear window shot out, according to charging documents.
Hours after the shooting, police found a 2013 silver Chevrolet Impala on fire just two miles from the crime scene, court documents say.
The car had multiple gunshots to the rear of the car and was missing glass from the rear driver side window. The vehicle was a rental car registered under Osborne’s name, documents state.
Police found Purvis on January 15 at approximately 3:29 p.m. in the 600 block of Yuma Street Southeast suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
More than a week later Osborne, 41, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder while armed in connection with Purvis’ death.
In an interview with police, Osborne said he knew nothing about the shooting, and that he parked the rental car in a lot half an hour before the shooting. He then left with a female friend who he spent the rest of the day with, Osborne said according to charging documents.
But phone records obtained by police show that Osborne’s cell phone was 2,000 feet from the crime scene just minutes after the shooting, court documents say.
At the hearing, prosecutors argued that Osborne was the sole renter of the car seen at the crime scene, and that at the least participated in Purvis’ death. But Osborne’s defense attorney, James Whitehead, said that the government’s case is based on circumstantial evidence, with no witnesses who have identified Osborne as the primary shooter.
The case is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 7 with Judge John Ramsey Johnson.
Charging documents are below.
