LITTLE ROCK — A 34-year-old Little Rock man who testified he shot a man in self-defense after he heard gunshots and saw his younger brother fall was convicted of second-degree murder Wednesday.
The eight-man, fivewoman Pulaski County jury deliberated about 75 minutes Wednesday before rejecting the more serious charge of first-degree murder against Mikal Shadeed Rasul in the October 2007 slaying of Henry Onukwube, almost two years after Rasul’s brother was similarly convicted for the killing.
On Wednesday, Rasul admitted that he never saw Onukwube with a weapon, only that the 24-year-old acted like he was pulling a gun and then pointed one hand in an aiming motion at the brothers during a confrontation at Pettaway Park on 21st Street.
Rasul said he feared not only Onukwube, but the younger man’s “gang member” friends. Rasul said the training he had undergone to obtain his concealed-carry gun permit had taught him he could only shoot to protect himself when there was no chance of escape.
“Wherever Henry was, that’s where I shot,” he said. “When I’m thinking we’re in danger, I use my weapon. I stopped shooting at Henry when I felt he was no longer a threat. He was down.”
Authorities said that not only was Onukwube unarmed, but police were unable to find any evidence that he had a gun or that anyone besides the Rasul brothers had fired weapons, despite two searches of the park. The brothers surrendered to authorities within hours of the slaying and turned over their weapons.
Jurors were deliberating a punishment recommendation for Circuit Judge Ernest Sanders Jr. late Wednesday night.
Rasul’s 32-year-old brother, Naeem Hassan Rasul, was convicted at a September 2008 trial of second-degree murder, reduced from first-degree murder, and sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in Onukwube’s slaying. Mikal Rasul faces a maximum of 45 years in prison.
Onukwube was killed by a bullet through his left temple that exited his forehead, authorities said. Sixteen shots were fired by the brothers, 10 of them by Mikal Rasul, according to witness testimony and Rasul’s own account. Authorities aren’t sure which of the brothers fired the fatal shot, but a bullet fragment recovered from the body appeared to be a closer match to Mikal Rasul’s gun.
The prosecution and defense offered vastly differing versions of the chain of events leading up to the park face-off. Prosecutors said the brothers deliberately hunted Onukwube down, with the defense countering that Mikal Rasul only acted to protect himself and his younger brother. Naeem Rasul and Onukwube had feuded, and Onukwube had been pistol-whipped the night before he was killed, with Naeem Rasul suspected in the beating.
Mikal Rasul testified he and his brother just happened to be driving by the park where Onukwube was sitting with friends when the younger man moved as if he was pulling a weapon out of his pants. His brother, the driver, suddenly stopped the pickup in the street, grabbed the keys and ran, Rasul said, leaving him no choice but to flee the vehicle as well.
“I didn’t want to run into the park, but I felt it was my only option,” he said.
“He was a sitting duck,” defense attorney Ron Davis told jurors, asking them to consider the likelihood that a family man and successful insurance agent like his client would murder someone in a city park in the middle of the afternoon. “Why would Mikal Rasul ... shoot someone down in the middle of Pettaway Park in front of eyewitnesses?” Davis asked.
Once Rasul saw Onukwube making threatening gestures and heard gunshots, Rasul was allowed to defend himself with a gun he was legally entitled to carry, Davis said.
“It’s better to be judged by 12 fair-minded people than be carried by six,” Davis said. “Was it reasonable for my client under these circumstances to believe his life was in danger? Do you wait until you get shot to defend yourself? Is that reasonable?”
Deputy prosecutor Leigh Patterson said Rasul never gave Onukwube the chance for a trial.
“This man has had the benefit of presenting his case to you,” she said. “He did not give Henry the slightest chance. He was the judge, jury and executioner.”
Patterson, citing testimony from two of Onukwube’s friends, told jurors that the Rasuls deliberately forced a showdown, and the brothers suspected he was behind the vandalism of their property that day. She asked them to consider why neither of the brothers immediately reported the shooting to police. They had never been reluctant to call the police before to complain about him, she said.
“He’s traveling with his brother, hunting for Henry Onukwube ... and he gunned him down like an animal,” Patterson told jurors. “You call the police when you’re a victim. You don’t call the police when you gun down a man in the park.”
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/29/2010