Two men plead not guilty in City Hall Park fatal shooting
Police arrested two men Wednesday afternoon in the killing of 32-year-old Philadelphia man Bryan Rogers II early Sunday in City Hall Park.
New Jersey native Christopher Crawford, 42, pleaded not guilty Thursday to a charge of first-degree murder and St. Albans man Joseph Craig, 59, pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory to first-degree murder. New Jersey police also had a fugitive arrest warrant out for Crawford when he was arrested Wednesday.
Both men were arraigned Thursday and are being held at the Northwest Correctional Facility. The homicide was the third this year and was the 23rd gunfire incident of the year.
Both men are being represented by attorney Joshua O'Hara, who did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publishing.
In court paperwork, police described video footage as showing Rogers sitting in City Hall Park with his girlfriend around 12:41 a.m. Sunday when a person, whom police identified as Crawford, approached from behind and shot Rogers twice in the back of the head. The description states that the gun was only six inches away from Rogers' head.
Police believe Crawford then fled the scene and got into Craig's car, which police later tracked on security camera footage. Police pulled over Craig on Wednesday and questioned Craig and Crawford, who also was in the car at the time, about their Saturday activities. According to police statements, Craig told police he met Crawford during his time in prison. He said he brought Crawford to the park late Saturday night and picked him up later. He also admitted to being near the park when the shooting happened, police said.
Crawford was detained because of his outstanding New Jersey warrant, and investigators said they secured probable cause to arrest him on suspicion of homicide by confirming his identity in various downtown security cameras which captured him walking around downtown before the homicide and also the homicide itself. Craig was consequently detained and arrested on suspicion of assisting in the murder because of video and spoken evidence that he was the driver of the car that took Crawford away after the shooting.
Acting Police Chief Jon Murad said in a press conference Thursday most of the recent gunfire incidents involve a small group of people whom police have interacted with, but this incident was different.
"Our victim was relatively new to us and new to the city, our suspect was new to us," Murad said. "This was not akin to any of the other gun violence incidents that we have dealt with over the past two and a half years."
It is not yet known how Roger and Crawford knew each other, but Murad said that police believe both the victim and the perpetrators were involved in narcotics trafficking.
Ten Vermont State Troopers were again present Saturday night and early Sunday morning at Murad's request to have a strong presence of law enforcement on a busy holiday weekend, the acting chief said. State troopers were called in to assist Burlington Police with downtown patrol duties three weeks ago after a shooting that injured two men.
Alex Schmidt, resident agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives branch in Burlington, was at the Thursday press conference to speak about the bureau's involvement in Burlington's gunfire incidents. He said his agents have ballistics technology that helps link gunfire incidents together to help solve cases. He said the city will share more details about the technology with the media in the coming weeks.
"The current trajectory of violent crime in Burlington is alarming," he said. "We refuse to accept the reality that gunfire in downtown Burlington is the new normal."
Contact Urban Change Reporter Lilly St. Angelo at lstangelo@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @lilly_st_ang
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington City Hall Park shooting: Two men charged
