Judge Karen Howze ordered Earl Patrick held without bond Tuesday in connection with the death of Carlton Coltrane.
Coltrane, 60, was robbed at a 7-Eleven shortly after midnight on May 6 and died of injuries sustained during the robbery three days later, according to arrest documents.
Patrick, 48, is suspected of felony first-degree murder and he is the second suspect to be arrested and held in connection with the case. Zerrick Brown, who is suspected of first-degree murder while armed in the case, was arrested four days before Patrick.
Arrest documents say that after police sought public help to identify suspects in Coltrane’s death by releasing a video, a witness who saw the video on television told police that the men sought by police were Patrick and Brown.
Charging documents say that the video released by MPD shows one man wearing dark clothing and one man wearing a white cap watching Coltrane as he bought groceries from a 7-Eleven in 400 block of 8th Street Southeast. The man in dark clothing then motions to the other “to go outside” before leaving the store, documents say. Moments later, the other man can be seen dragging Coltrane out of the store, according to court documents.
The witness who identified Brown and Patrick from the video told police that Brown was the man with the cap, and that Patrick was the man all in black, according to arrest documents.
Another witness who was in the store at the time told police that the man wearing the brimless cap, or kufi, then grabbed Coltrane, dragged him out of the store, punched him in the face, and took Coltrane’s wallet out of his back pocket while the other man was “standing and watching as if being a lookout or protector,” according to arrest documents.
After being arrested yesterday, Patrick watched the video and told police, “That’s me,” but later said that it “looked” like him, but it couldn’t have been him because he was at home at that time, and that he didn’t recall where he was at the time of the robbery, according to arrest documents.
Defense attorney Mitchell Baer argued that there is insufficient evidence that Patrick was involved in the robbery that led to Coltrane’s death, saying, “All the video might show is that Mr. Patrick was present while someone else committed the robbery.”
Assistant US Attorney Melinda Williams disagreed, telling the court that Coltrane told police before he died that he was attacked by two men. “The video shows two men working in concert,” said Williams.
Patrick and Brown are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on June 10.
Patrick’s charging documents have been added to the post below.
