OSHTEMO TOWNSHIP, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — A man suspected in a murder case earlier this year will go to trial, MLive reported Tuesday.
Around 1:30 a.m. on March 8, Kalamazoo County Sheriff deputies were called to the 700 block of Dragonfly Road at the Canterbury House Apartments near Drake Road.
They found 30-year-old Kalamazoo citizen Elijah Fuquan Roberson in the parking lot suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to Bronson Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
A short time later, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office announced the warrant for David Lawrence Barnes, a 45-year-old Kalamazoo resident.
MLive reported Tuesday that Barnes will now head to trial on October 30 for open murder and felony weapons charges. During a pretrial hearing in July, Barnes said he had shot Roberson in self-defense, but Roberson’s fiancée, Patrice Fuller, said he had been unarmed.
The shooting reportedly stemmed from a children’s football game earlier that day, where Roberson is said to have attempted to break up a fight between participating players, supposedly striking the daughter of Barnes in the process. Fuller disputes that claim, saying that Roberson never had physical contact with Barnes’ daughter.
Later that same night, Barnes and Fuller met outside the apartments, which escalated when Fuller tried to explain the situation, she said. Once Roberson came outside, the two men started arguing, ending with Barnes shooting Roberson.
His trial will take place at the end of October while he is held without bail, MLive added.
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