Suspect in 2019 murder faces criminal court trial
SCHENECTADY — A now 20-year-old murder suspect will stand trial in the youth part of criminal court in Schenectady County for allegedly luring and then fatally shooting a city man while trying to rob him of his weed in 2019.
That was one of several new developments prosecutor Pete Willis discussed during a phone interview after a virtual hearing Monday where the defendant, Clifford Charles, was arraigned on a charge of second-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in the shooting death of Roscoe Foster on Jan. 25, 2019 in the city’s Central State Street neighborhood.
One matter at issue because of Charles’ age at the time of the fatal shooting was whether the case should be heard in Family Court.
Authorities have said the murder probe languished because witnesses refused to cooperate with police.
Charles, who is serving time for a gun-related crime from 2020, was originally charged with first-degree murder in the attempted drug-related robbery that cost Foster his life. The father of five died at Ellis Hospital.
The grand jury opted to indict Charles on second- instead of first-degree murder, the latter of which he had originally faced, in large part because he was 16 years old when he allegedly shot and killed Foster, 38.
“That original first-degree murder charge should have been charged as second-degree because of how old he was at the time of the allegations,” said Willis, adding that nothing has changed with the underlying accusations against Charles.
His new court-appointed lawyer, Kyle Davis, pleaded not guilty on his client’s behalf. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
“We do believe that the motive was a robbery where a drug deal had been set up and the individual that has been arrested went ostensibly to purchase drugs, but in reality, it was just to rob (the victim), and he shot him to death inside his car,” Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney told the Times Union.
Carney has previously said that the defendant set up Foster under a ruse that he wanted to buy some weed.
Willis also talked about the pivotal ruling in favor of the prosecution that presiding Family Court Judge Mark Blanchfield issued in writing last month that there was a preponderance of evidence against the defendant.
The document cites grand jury testimony from a “personal acquaintance” of Charles who testified that Charles was in possession of a revolver that he later used to shoot Foster inside Foster’s vehicle. Numerous other witnesses also told the grand jury about both the caliber and physical appearance of that revolver.
The ruling also states that ballistics testing showed that the caliber of three bullets found in the pocket of Charles’ jacket when he was arrested on Feb. 6, 2019, about two weeks after the deadly shooting, matched those in the seat of Foster’s car.
Additionally, the judge references an analysis of the defendant’s cellphone that put him in the “immediate vicinity” of the crime scene at the time of the deadly shooting.
Charles’ next scheduled court appearance for decisions on any motions is slated for early May.