A Montbello High School student accused of murdering classmate Contrell Townsend admitted Tuesday that he told people he “messed up” and knew the stabbing was his fault.
Marcus Richardson, now 18, is accused of stabbing Townsend, 17, three times on Jan. 4, 2005, in the school cafeteria.
But Richardson, accused of second-degree murder, told a Denver jury that he had no choice but to use the knife after Townsend body-slammed him three times, repeatedly punched him and made it impossible for him to breathe because of the chokehold Townsend applied.
Richardson said as he was being choked to death, he was surrounded by Townsend’s friends, who were yelling “s-wooop,” “s-wooop,” the “war cry” of the Bloods street gang.
“I thought I had no choice – either get killed or be severely hurt,” Richardson said.
Richardson said he carried the steak knife to school from April 2004 until the stabbing.
He said his mother discovered the knife and he promised he’d stop taking it to school. But he said he broke the promise and a school prohibition against weapons because of the violence he had seen and experienced there.
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Tom Clinton, Richardson said he had received seven months of boxing training from former Denver-based heavyweight contender Ron Lyle. Lyle fought Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, scoring repeatedly against both men, only to lose in late rounds.
Richardson said he took the lessons on the advice of his father after being beaten by a gang of teens.
Under Clinton’s cross-examination, Richardson said he was able to free both his hands and use them to pull out the knife and take off the sheath that covered it. He said he then stabbed Townsend three times.
Clinton suggested that Richardson, with his hands free, should have used his boxing skills to end the fight rather than plunge the knife into Townsend, who had no weapon.
Later, another prosecutor, Adrienne Greene, questioned Rich ardson’s story that both his hands were free. She said she believed Richardson took the sheath off before he confronted Townsend, not during the fight.
Richardson insisted Town send was the instigator of a series of incidents that day. He said Townsend first bumped into him in a hallway, a bump he ignored. Minutes later, Richardson said Townsend challenged him in the cafeteria to go outside and fight, which never happened because the school principal was outside. Townsend then challenged him a second time in the cafeteria, Richardson said.
It was there, Richardson added, that Townsend’s friends began their cries of “s-wooop” “s-wooop.”
“I got scared because this is a gang and I’ve seen what they’ve done,” Richardson said.
The jury will begin deliberations today.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
