Deon Edward Cole, 19, was ordered held Tuesday after he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder while armed for the July 2013 fatal shooting of Walter Goode Jr.
Responding to a report of “man down,” police found Goode, 53, behind a building in the 1100 block of First Place Northwest suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Goode was lying on his back against a concrete wall wearing a backpack. He had a $50 dollar bill clutched in his right hand, according to documents. He died on the scene.
Police recovered multiple nine millimeter shell casings and bullet fragments near Goode’s body.
On December 17, 2013, Cole was interviewed at a local hospital in reference to Goode’s death, according to court documents. He was hospitalized after an assault three days prior.
According to Cole, before midnight, Goode asked him if he wanted to “shoot a game of dice,” charging documents say. They went towards the rear of First Place to gamble alone.
Cole told police that he and Goode played for exactly one hour and that he had won two to three hundred dollars from Goode, documents state. He told police that Goode was known to always have large amounts of cash on him.
According to documents, shortly after, Cole then noticed individuals walking by their dice game, causing him to quit and walk away. As he was walking away, he saw a masked man wearing dark clothing approaching them, court documents say. According to Cole, he ran towards M Street Northwest and heard Goode call out, “Oh shit,” before he heard four gunshots.
He told police that he had known Goode for two years and that they gambled often.
In an interview with police, a witness said that it was with Cole a few weeks after Goode’s murder, documents say. Cole told it he knew Goode from the neighborhood and that Goode would sell drugs, and would always be in possession of large amounts of cash.
According to the witness, Cole and Goode met behind a building for a drug deal, charging documents state. But, Cole told the witness that his plan was to rob Goode.
Cole said when he pulled out a handgun to rob Goode, Goode resisted, the witness recounted.
Cole shot Goode, stood over him, and shot him again and again in the head, according to the witness. Cole told the witness he took Goode’s money and left him there.
The witness identified Cole in a single photograph provided by police.
Cole is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 12, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. before Judge Russell F. Canan.
A copy of charging documents are embedded below:
