Man sentenced to up 11 years in prison for 2013 murder at apartment complex party
A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to a 2013 murder that a prosecutor said stemmed from a fight with his girlfriend over her dancing with another man.
Montreal Russell, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Tuesday after spending more than six years in the Durham County jail charged with killing DeMario Lucas.
Under a plea agreement with the Durham County District Attorney’s Office, Russell was sentenced to eight years to 11 years in prison by Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson.
Lucas, 23, was found shot Oct. 20, 2013 around 3:48 a.m., lying in a breezeway at Campus Crossings apartment complex, which caters to N.C. Central University students. Lucas died at the scene.
Russell, who was 18 at the time of the shooting, will get credit for the more than six years he spent in jail awaiting trial.
Assault charge dismissed
Under the deal, Russell’s charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury, which was related to a second person being shot, was dismissed.
Before Russell pleaded guilty, he told Hudson that he had concerns about his attorney, Robert Brown.
Russell said he hired Brown more than two years ago after Brown said there was a strong possibility that he would be able to get Russell a manslaughter conviction in which he wouldn’t have to spend additional time in prison.
“Now I feel like I am being pressured because I know the system is corrupt and if I do not take this plea I will get life. And it is so scary,” Russell said.
Russell said he told all of his previous attorneys that he didn’t commit the crime and that it was a case of mistaken identity.
“And no one’s hearing me out,” he said. “So to come this far and ... I have to beg for even eight years, when I actually don’t want to do any of it. It’s lose, lose.”
Brown said he didn’t promise Russell that he could get the charge reduced to manslaughter.
Hudson said Brown can’t make Russell take the plea.
Brown, who has served as a public defender, a Durham prosecutor and now a private attorney, is a very experienced attorney, Hudson said.
“Mr. Brown’s job is to do the best he can to give you a fair trial or fair plea,” Hudson said. “I don’t have any question in my mind that Mr. Brown might have wanted to get you involuntary manslaughter or some lesser offense. I don’t have any question that he thought he could use his ability to do that.”
Hudson said it’s up to Assistant District Attorney Michael Wallace, who is also an experienced attorney who has practiced in North Carolina and federal courts, to determine whether the state offers a lesser plea.
“[Brown] can’t make the state offer you a lesser plea,” Hudson said. “He can ask.”
It’s up to Brown to tell Russell “what is likely to happen in your case, although you might not want to hear it, when it goes in front of a jury,” Hudson said.
“My guess is that he made a decision that there is a greater chance than he wants to put you through,” that if you go to trial on the maximum charge that you will end up spending a great portion of life in prison, Hudson said.
Russell then indicated he wanted to move forward with the current plea deal.
Campus Crossings party
Lucas and another man were shot at a party at Campus Crossings apartment complex in October 2013. The party was initially shut down at one apartment but extended into the early morning at another, Wallace said.
At some time during the party, Russell became “annoyed with a young man who had been dancing with his girlfriend,” Wallace said.
Russell and his girlfriend argued, and she left the party, Wallace said.
“Mr. Russell pulled out a firearm and started shooting in the direction of the party-goers,” Wallace said.
Lucas was struck multiple times, and a second person was also injured.
Brown successfully argued that Hudson should consider mitigating factors when sentencing Russell, including that Russell had been in and out of the foster care system since he was 4 months old.
Russell, who was abused by a relative at 6 years old, has also been diagnosed with mental illnesses including schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress syndrome, Brown said..
Sarah Willets, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said the case was the oldest homicide case working its way through the Durham County court system.
