Jury reaches verdict on charges related to shooting outside Belleville bar
A St. Clair County jury has rendered a split verdict in a case involving a 2019 shooting outside a popular Belleville bar and restaurant.
Rashaud L. Paul, 30, of Belleville, was found guilty on two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a school, building or person. The jury found him not guilty on one count of aggravated battery with a firearm and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm.
Paul’s attorney, Rich Black, had argued that he was acting in self-defense when he shot Lamadre Ridley, then 24, in the parking lot of Spike’s Pub & Grub.
“The alleged victim (Ridley) was actually the perpetrator,” Black said Wednesday. “He was trying to attack my client. He came to the bar with a gun. He had threatened him before.”
Police and other witnesses called by prosecutors with State’s Attorney Jim Gomric’s office testified that Paul, who was reportedly dating Ridley’s ex-girlfriend, shot Ridley in the leg with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun and hit the Spike’s building with three bullets. They also stated that Ridley fired back at Paul 13 times.
The trial began Monday morning at the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville. The jury deliberated about five hours before rendering a verdict late Wednesday afternoon.
Paul has been in custody at St. Clair County Jail since his arrest on Oct. 9, 2019.
Belleville police responded to a report of a shooting about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 25, 2019, at Spike’s Pub & Grub, 3701 W. Main St. in Belleville, the former location of Antique House Lounge.
Witnesses told officers that Ridley was walking onto the rear parking lot toward a group of males standing by a red Dodge Charger when a man in a white T-shirt pulled out a gun and began shooting at him, according to an April 19 court filing by prosecutors.
“Ridley ran back behind a parked vehicle and returned fire after being struck in the left leg,” the filing states. “Officers viewed surveillance video from Spike’s, as well as a neighboring business, which depicts the scene as described by witnesses.”
After the shooting, Ridley was transported to Memorial Hospital Belleville, where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. He testified at Paul’s trial this week.
Police identified Paul as the shooter based on witness accounts and video of him with Ridley’s ex-girlfriend.
“The incident was not a random act of violence and appears to have some domestic implications,” according to a Belleville police statement at the time. No one else was injured.
A grand jury indicted Paul on six felonies, including one count of being an armed habitual criminal, one count of aggravated battery with a firearm, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a building, school or person and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon.
A separate trial on May 10-11 dealt with the first count, and a jury found Paul not guilty. The sixth count was dismissed.
Assistant State’s Attorney Tara Steele made the prosecution’s closing argument at this week’s trial. She rejected the defense claim that Ridley had threatened Paul, characterizing their interaction as “words over the phone.”
“That definitely doesn’t allow you to shoot someone,” Steele told the jury.
Prosecutors called as witnesses Master Sgt. Patrick Koebbe and Detective Jill Zimmerman of the Belleville Police Department; Aaron Horn, of the Illinois State Police Metro East Forensic Laboratory; Dr. Maria Louisa Scarbrough of Memorial Hospital; and two of Ridley’s friends from the bar.
Judge John O’Gara issued a bench warrant Monday for the arrest of Antwyne Warren, who was supposed to testify.
“He did not appear, despite being subpoenaed,” said Chris Allen, spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office. Allen declined to comment on the trial’s outcome.
After the shooting, former Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert, acting as the city’s liquor commissioner, revoked Spike’s Pub & Grub’s liquor license, forcing it to shut down for a week.
Eckert reached an agreement with the bar’s owners, Rachel and Dan Speichinger, and the couple were able to reopen. Rachel Speichinger estimated that they lost $15,000 in revenue.
“It’s not an easy situation, but I hope from now on we’ll have a good standing,” she said at the time. “I look forward to having a good relationship with the city of Belleville, the mayor and the police.”
The Speichingers couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
