Crime

Legal Assistant Accused Of Murder

He claims this was a matter of self-defense, but judges have disagreed.

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A young legal assistant in Washington, D.C., allegedly shot his roommate to death earlier this summer, and he claims it was a matter of self-defense. His sad tale of beating the odds as a wayward youth to trying to beat a murder rap as a reformed adult recently earned him an expose in the District’s paper of record.

Kenneil Cole, 24, stands accused of killing his rommate, Keon Wallace, 24. Cole spent time in juvenile detention during high school, while Wallace also had run-ins with police. Both men, however, turned their lives around and were forging successful careers for themselves — Cole in the legal profession and Wallace in public works.

In late June, Cole attempted to evict Wallace from the townhouse they shared, but the situation quickly turned into one of chaos. From the Washington Post:

Authorities say Cole shot Wallace 11 times, killing him. Cole is now jailed, charged with [second]-degree murder but arguing self-defense. …

Wallace was found dead in Cole’s second-floor bedroom, curled into the fetal position and gripping a black do-rag, according to court papers. He had been shot twice in the back of the head, once in the middle of his back and again near his right ear, as well as other places throughout his body. …

In a voluntary statement to police described in court papers, Cole said he was trying to evict Wallace when they began to argue. Wallace became aggressive, Cole said, and threatened to shoot him with a handgun. Cole told investigators he was able to wrestle the handgun away before killing Wallace in self-defense.

According to Cole’s lawyer, James King of the District’s Public Defender Services, his client has been “gainfully employed” at an unnamed law firm for the past five years. Prior to his employment at the firm, Cole interned for D.C.’s Attorney General. After entering a not-guilty plea during his arraignment on June 2016, Cole’s lawyer argued that because this was an “open-shut” case of self-defense, his client should be released pending trial. The judge disagreed with that assessment:

“This man was shot behind the ear, and in the back,” he said. “This is not self-defense, this is murder,” DC Superior Court Magistrate Judge Erroll Arthur said.

During a hearing on July 6, Judge Milton C. Lee also disagreed with Cole’s claims of self-defense, saying that the shooting involved an “extraordinary” use of force. “[T]his is not a perfect self-defense case,” Lee said.

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“Even though he seemed to live a very positive life and seemed to have things turned around,” Lee began saying of Cole, “and there are other aspects of his life he seems to have evolved out of … The facts in the case suggest perhaps — perhaps that he did not evolve completely from that.”

Cole is behing held without bond, and will likely remain jailed through his trial.

Two young men were on paths to success. Now one is dead, the other charged with his murder. [Washington Post]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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