BAD BOY ~ Rudolph guilty in two deaths, Jury rejects claim he fired in self-defense
The Kentucky Wizard
and reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of two teenagers -- one of them
his brother.
The jury also recommended a 30-year jail sentence for Rudolph, 19.
Rudolph did not testify in the trial and stared impassively as Circuit Judge
James Shake read the verdict.
On Dec. 30, 2000, Rudolph fired a single shot from a .357-caliber handgun,
killing 15-year-old Joseph Epps. The bullet then traveled through Epps and
struck Rudolph's 16-year-old brother, Sedrick. Both youths ran from the
house and died in the snow less than a block away from the Rudolph family
home at 3607 Del Park Terrace.
Yesterday, members of the Epps family cried and hugged one another and the
prosecutors outside the courtroom after the verdict was announced.
Joseph Epps' mother, Paula, told the court that one of the last times she
saw her son was on Christmas Day in 2000. He sat with her in the kitchen
while she cooked and thanked her for his gifts.
''My son, Joseph, he was just becoming a young man,'' she said. ''He was a
good kid.''
Rudolph's mother, Shari, turned away, her eyes welling with tears, when
asked about her pain after the verdict was read.
''I already knew what the trial (outcome) was going to be,'' she said.
''He's a Rudolph.''
She was alluding to the death of another son, Desmond, who was fatally shot
by two Louisville police officers in 1998 as he tried to flee in a stolen
Chevrolet Blazer in an alley near the Rudolph home. A grand jury cleared the
officers, based on evidence supporting their account that Desmond Rudolph
had freed the truck after it became stuck on a post and they feared they
would be run over.
In the shooting case, prosecutors David Schuler and Jonathan Dyar argued
that DeShawn Rudolph waited with a cocked and loaded gun for his brother and
Epps to come downstairs, intending to rob Epps.
Rudolph ushered his family members, including his mother, grandmother and
sister, into the basement before the incident and locked the door.
Defense attorney Michael Bufkin told jurors that Rudolph had learned from
his cousin Nathaniel Rudolph, who had been out earlier that evening selling
marijuana with Epps, of a plan by Epps to rob his brother.
Bufkin said DeShawn Rudolph acted in self-defense, getting his gun and
hiding his family in the basement on the night of the incident. He said the
family agreed to hurry downstairs fearing that there could be a drive-by
shooting at any minute.
Nine months after the incident, police recovered a weapon that was said to
have been in Epps' possession the night of the shooting. The weapon fit a
description of a gun Nathaniel Rudolph saw Epps holding earlier the night of
the shooting.
Bufkin urged acquittal in his closing argument, saying Rudolph did not mean
to kill his brother and had shot Epps in self-defense. Prosecutors never
proved otherwise, he said.
''What the commonwealth wants you to believe is that DeShawn Rudolph
intended to murder Joseph Epps,'' Bufkin said. ''The facts and circumstances
don't support that.''
In an impassioned closing argument, prosecutor Dyar said that there was
nothing to support the assertion that Epps had robbery plans that night
except for what he called fabricated testimony by Rudolph's family members.
''Please, I'm begging you, don't look at this and say, 'Who cares?' -- don't
do it,'' Dyar said. ''You've got to care. A 15- and 16-year-old lying dead
in the snow is why you've got to care. He (DeShawn Rudolph) didn't have the
right to do that.''
The jury also saw old photos, given to police by Shari Rudolph, showing
DeShawn and Sedrick Rudolph posing with money and guns while flashing gang
signs. The mother had testified earlier that the brothers never had guns in
the house.
After the verdict was announced, the jury reconvened to decide a sentence
recommendation. It took into consideration Rudolph's two juvenile
convictions for receiving stolen property over $300.
The jury recommended a 25-year prison term for Epps' murder and a five-year
term for the death of Sedrick Rudolph. DeShawn Rudolph will be sentenced
Nov. 26.
''I think everyone's in a state of shock,'' Bufkin said. ''It's really hard
for Shari. She's lost one son and another will go to the penitentiary. I
think a lot of people have forgotten she's the mother of one of the alleged
victims.''
Bettie Jackson, Epps' cousin, said she thought the verdict brought justice.
''They're speaking from the grave and the truth came out,'' she said. Now
DeShawn Rudolph has ''got to live with the fact he shot his brother for the
rest of his life.''
Alexander Jerkov
<kentuckywizardNOS...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>A Jefferson Circuit Court jury convicted DeShawn Rudolph yesterday of murder
>and reckless homicide in the fatal shooting of two teenagers -- one of them
>his brother.
With a name like DeShawn you just knew he would turn out bad.
robee...@gmail.com
Sarah Ehrett's Lesbian Love Interest
> Deshawn and Sedric Rudolph are my brothers, murder and wreckless homicide is a bit much considering, Epps was robbing Sedric in the house, Deshawn was only protecting his family. Todays law state if someone enters your home and plan on doing unlawful acts you have every right to kill them as long as there back isn't turn toward you and they are trying to get away. in Epps case he had a gun to my brother Sedric, and tried to draw down on Deshawn, Deshawn open fire before Epps could. Now put yourself in his shoes what would you have done... Exactly my point. My mother said its because of Desmond he got that much time. In reality he should of only got charged with involuntary manslaughter. I'm 24 now this happen 14 years ago, I see this as injustice, maybe he was gang affiliated but that don't mean give him 35years for trying to protect his family. Or label him a bad boy, if Epps would of never had the intentions on robbing Sedric, Sedric would be alive and Deshawn would be out.
Sarah Ehrett
Interest" <wilm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>But what about Naomi?
Dead.
