Trae Allen, 19, of Atlanta said he would not kill someone just because Charles David Richardson said to do it. So Richardson, according to testimony at his murder trial this week, killed Allen.

Allen had recently moved from Columbia to Atlanta, and was back in town visiting when he was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in Richardson's Brook Way townhouse on May 21, 2007, according to prosecutors.

Richardson, 25, is also charged with first-degree murder in the death of Alevtina Zhilina, 40, who was shot and killed April 26 while working at the 7-Eleven on Columbia Road, directly across the street from the townhouse complex where Richardson lived.

Richardson's trial in Zhilina's death is scheduled to begin Oct. 14.

During opening arguments Sept. 29, Assistant State's Attorney Lynn Marshall described a gathering at Richardson's Columbia townhouse on May 20, 2007 where Richardson and Allen got into a heated argument. Richardson pulled out a gun and shot Allen in the head, the prosecutor said.

"He was shot by the defendant again and again," Marshall said.

Richardson's attorney, Mark Van Bavel, conceded that the shooting was "a brutal, tragic, horrible, senseless offense," but argued with jurors that the shooting might not rise to first-degree murder.

He described Richardson as a hard worker at Toby's Dinner Theatre, where he worked in the kitchen, but conceded that Richardson was a regular drug user and possibly a drug dealer.

"Mr. Richardson is a paradox," Van Bavel said. He described the shooting as an abnormal act that occurred on the spur of the moment.

"It is a senseless act that grew out of a troubled mind," Van Bavel said.

Witnesses describe shooting

The prosecution put two witnesses on the stand who saw the shooting.

Joseph Beard, who described himself as Allen's best friend, said the argument that led to the shooting was about whether Allen would kill for Richardson or not.

"Mr. Allen said, 'I wouldn't just kill for no reason. If somebody was trying to kill you then I would,' " Beard testified.

Allen's words angered Richardson, who pulled out a gun and shot Allen in the left eye, Beard said.

"He just pulled it out of his sleeve and shot him in the eye," Beard said.

Lisa Canning, a friend of Richardson's, described a calm scene that suddenly became confrontational. Richardson threw his sunglasses to the floor, grabbed Allen around the head, brought the gun to his head and shot him, Canning said.

She described Allen holding his head and walking toward the kitchen. She left the apartment, she said, and then heard several more gunshots.

Allen was a friend of Richardson's brother, according to state's attorney spokesman Wayne Kirwan.

On Sept. 30, prosecutors at the trial played a video of an interview with Richardson made by police shortly after the shooting, in which Richardson told police they could take a DNA sample but did not admit to the crime.

In the video, Richardson said he went over to his house on the day of the shooting, found a room full of strange people and later left.

Another witness, who prosecutors asked reporters not to identify because, Kirwan explained, he "felt threatened," told jurors he met Richardson at a motel the day after the murder and Richardson told him he had something he needed to get rid of. The witness described throwing a heavy object wrapped in a towel over a fence at Long Gate Parkway and Route 100.

Randall Huber, an employee with the Howard County Department of Public Works described finding a gun in a pond at that location after draining the pond. He said he gave the gun to police.

The trial is expected to end later this week.

---

user comments (0)