CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Rayquan Borum, accused of a fatal shooting that further inflamed the demonstrations in Charlotte last September, is considering an offer from prosecutors to plead guilty to second-degree murder and avoid a potential life behind bars, his attorney says.
Borum, 22, is accused of first-degree murder in the Sept. 21 death of Justin Carr, which occurred in the sometimes violent aftermath of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott the day before.
Police say Borum has confessed to the shooting. His attorney, Terry Sherrill, described the death as a "terrible accident" on Wednesday.
Some community activists continue to argue that Carr died from a rubber bullet fired by police outside the Omni hotel. Police say no rubber bullets were used that night, and forensic experts contacted by the Charlotte Observer say a rubber projectile would not have caused the fatal damage to Carr's skull and brain.
Now, according to Sherrill, Borum must decide before his Aug. 17 arraignment whether to accept an offer from Assistant District Attorney Clayton Jones to plead guilty to second-degree murder and avoid a trial. If convicted of first-degree murder, Borum would serve a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Jones, who was picking a jury for an unrelated murder trial on Wednesday, could not be immediately reached for comment.
According to Sherrill, Jones' plea offer comes with a "substantial" prison sentence for Borum. He said he believes the facts of the case point toward the lesser charge of manslaughter.
"But that offer hasn't been made and I have been given no indication that will be made," Sherrill said. "(Jones) has told me that they have offered the best he feels he can do, maybe even the best he's willing to do."
Borum, he said, "has not made up his mind" about the offer. "But there are some things we need to see together ... that may help him get close to a decision."
Up to now, Borum has not seen the police compilation of surveillance videos and photographs that reportedly place Borum at the scene of shooting and show him firing a weapon outside the Omni.
Sherrill, who has watched the compilations, says they "show some things, but I have seen nothing that convinces me this is anything but a terrible accident. ... What I think doesn't matter. It's what the state may be able to prove and our ability to defend against that evidence."
For now, Sherrill said, Borum and he need to watch the videos "to see these things so we can talk about what's next."
