A defense attorney in a three co-defendant murder trial said another man was arrested carrying a knife on the same night and in the same neighborhood as a fatal stabbing.
The attorney said the man was carrying a kitchen knife in his waistband on the night Lenard Wills was killed in 2015. According to prosecutors, Wills, 50, was stabbed in a crowded apartment during an attempted robbery on the 700 block of 24th Street, NE. Joseph Barbour, Willie Glover and Charles McRae are charged with first-degree murder while armed for his death.
When asked why he never examined the kitchen knife, a detective said the name of the man carrying it never came up in his investigation. A medical examiner who testified earlier in the trial said it was possible that Wills was stabbed with a kitchen knife.
A defense attorney for Barbour also highlighted body camera footage that showed a conversation with a witness, who later identified Barbour as one of the attackers, saying the assailant came from “upstairs,” not necessarily from the apartment where the stabbing occurred. During his testimony, the witness said he recognized Barbour from his clothes and mannerisms.
The trial is scheduled to resume on July 6.
