Case Dismissed: College Grad Pleads Not Guilty to Roommate’s Murder

By D.C. Witness Staff - June 27, 2018
Court | Homicides | Suspects |

Editor’s note: The case against Kenneil Cole was dismissed on Feb. 1, 2023.

After turning himself in as a suspect in his roommate’s murder, a man, who claimed self-defense, was charged with second-degree murder.

During an arraignment June 26, defense counsel for Kenneil Cole said there was not enough evidence to charge his client with premeditated murder following the death of Keon Wallace.

According to Cole, 24, after an altercation to evict the decedent, Wallace, who was also 24, became violent. He apparently threatened Cole with a semi-automatic .40mm pistol. Cole said he wrestled the gun away from Wallace and began to shoot.

The incident occurred on June 25 on the 2400 block of Skyland Place, SE in a townhome shared by both the decedent and defendant.

James King, Cole’s attorney, requested Cole be released on his own accord due to this being an “open-shut” case concerning self-defense. King also told the judge his client was a Delaware State University graduate and “gainfully employed” for five-years at a law firm.

“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.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled with DC Superior Court Judge Craig Iscoe on July 6.