Rasdavid Lagarde formally pleaded innocent to eight criminal charges Friday, including first-degree murder while armed, after being indicted for the shooting death of Omar Sykes. A trial is scheduled for November 10.
Sykes was shot and killed around 11:30 p.m. on July 4, 2013. He was a 22-year-old student at Howard University.
According to arrest documents in the case, Sykes died in an attempted robbery. A witness told police that Sykes was beginning to move to the ground when the witness saw a 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.
Lagarde may have believed the safety on his weapon was on when the shooting occurred, documents say.
The case is scheduled for a status hearing August 5.
A copy of the indictment is below.
