DETROIT – A Detroit judge dismissed murder charges against two of three people accused of killing a Detroit firefighter, and then took the unusual step of personally addressing friends and family in the court to explain the decision.
Judge Kenneth King ruled during a preliminary hearing Thursday that Nicole O'Neill and Christian Rasnick will not stand trial on felony murder charges in the death of Detroit firefighter David Madrigal. He also dismissed a felony burglary charge against O'Neill and an arson charge against Rasnick.
A third suspect, Timmy Soto, was bound over for allegedly killing Madrigal. He'll also stand trial for armed robbery, arson, larceny and other charges.
During his ruling, King called the suspects "scum," but said the law forced his hand in dismissing the murder charges.
"You have every right to be mad at all three of these people that are in front of us, even go so far as to call them scum," King said. "Very, very upsetting that this happened to a person that serviced the city in the way that Mr. Madrigal did, but I can't let my emotions guide what has been presented here by way of evidence by way of the people."
Following the decision, King left the bench, walked across the courtroom and addressed Madrigal's family. A family member could be heard saying it's just a "misdemeanor," seemingly referring to O'Neill's lone standing charge of arson.
King expressed his condolences, but said there was no evidence that O'Neill and Rasnick participated in the homicide.
"Supposedly these people went there with no gun, no weapon, unarmed, and Mr. Soto picks up a weight and hits Mr. Madrigal with it," he said. "Even though they had guilty knowledge of what was to take place, and they were present, what we're looking at is the state of the mind of the defendants when the actions took place."
King told the family he couldn't determine Rasnick knew someone would be killed during the alleged larceny, and said the evidence made it harder to attach O'Neill to the crimes. "Evidence was very, very light in what she did to help" with alleged murder, he told the family.
Watch the emotional scene unfold in the video above.
The suspects will be arraigned in court on June 2.
Madrigal's body was found in December in his home on Vaughn Street. The 59-year-old died from blunt force trauma, according to the medical examiner's office.
He had been a Detroit firefighter for nearly 25 years.