2nd man charged in fatal shooting in Lakewood parking lot over marijuana sale
A man suspected of fatally shooting someone during a marijuana sale in a Lakewood parking lot is being held on $2 million bail.
On Monday, James Richard Anderson, 41, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm in the Feb. 2 death of Oral Rhoden, 32.
Police believe Anderson shot Rhoden as the victim approached a vehicle to buy pot.
Also charged in the case is Matthew Malone, 32, who allegedly arranged the drug deal. He pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is jailed in lieu of $1 million.
Superior Court Judge Sabrina Ahrens ordered Anderson and Malone not to have contact with each other.
Rhoden was dropped off at St. Clare Hospital that night by people in two vehicles that fled as soon as they flagged down medical assistance.
Rhoden, who had been shot in the chest, died at the hospital.
Detectives were able to track down the registered owners of the two cars that brought Rhoden to the hospital and determine that the shooting occurred in an apartment complex parking lot in the 7500 block of 146th Street Southwest.
Malone set up the sale of a pound of marijuana with an unidentified man who arrived that night in an Infinity QX30, according to charging papers.
The two had several similar transactions in the past and always met at “neutral locations,” records say.
Anderson and Malone came together in Malone’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and waited for the unidentified man, who got in the Jeep after arriving.
That man told police Anderson was sitting in the backseat and “extremely paranoid with him, at one point flipping out over a car that pulled into the parking lot, believing it to be a police car,” records say.
As he was counting money for the marijuana, two of his friends - including Rhoden - also pulled up with the intent of buying pot from Malone.
Surveillance footage showed Rhoden walk up to the back of the Jeep, gunshots ring out and Rhoden drop to the ground before trying to run.
The man who came to buy marijuana jumped out of the front seat as the Jeep sped off with the door still open.
Detectives said they were able to place Malone’s cell phone at the scene around the time of the shooting.
They also said Anderson and Malone communicated on their phones 100 times within 30 days before and after Rhoden’s death.
Two witnesses claimed both Anderson and Malone confessed to shooting a man during a drug deal and “provided ‘near exact’ details of the shooting as known by the detectives,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Anderson has prior felony convictions, including for second-degree robbery, and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.