The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Defendant testifies in Sheffield Village trial
Devonte A. Randleman testified July 14 in Lorain County Common Pleas Court he had no role in the robbery or murder of Stephen A. Dukes.
“(None) whatsoever,” Randleman said when asked what his involvement was by his attorney, Anthony Manning.
The statements came as Randleman, 24, of Elyria, took the stand in his own defense on the last day of testimony in his trial on charges of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts aggravated burglary, two counts of felonious assault and single counts of tampering with evidence and having weapons while under disability.
According to prosecutors, Randleman and an unidentified accomplice shot the 26-year-old Sheffield Village resident four times in the early hours of Aug. 6, when he interrupted them burglarizing his Waterford Circle apartment.
During his testimony, Randleman said Dukes was like family to him, and that Dukes’ cousin lived in the lower level of the 13th Street duplex he was living in at the time.
Randleman said he was selling pills and marijuana with a man he only knows as “Q” the day before the murder.
But “Q” was doing most of the work in selling the drugs, Randleman said, because he was in pain to the point of crying due to a boil
in his groin area.
He said he also met up with some other friends that day, and was driven to Sandusky by one of them. He said he arrived around 1 a.m.
When asked why he told police Dominique Camel, 32, his fiancée, took him to Sandusky, he said the friend who drove him is “in the streets,” and he didn’t want to give his name to investigators.
According to Randleman, he did not realize his phone, which was found near Dukes’ body, was missing until 6 a.m. the day of the murder when he woke up at his uncle’s house.
He said he and Camel went to a mall and purchased a replacement phone, a Keurig, for his grandmother’s birthday and some clothes for himself later in the day.
Randleman said the two then went to Red Lobster with his family to celebrate his grandmother’s birthday. He said they returned to his 13th Street home because he had heard of Dukes’ death and worried about the cousin who lived below him.
“I went to her, she tried to walk past me,” Randleman said. “I grabbed her and she was like, ‘I don’t want to talk to you until I know you ain’t got nothing to do with this.’ ”
He testified he already knew his name was being mentioned, but Camel told him he was being looked at as a suspect.
Randleman said he first spoke to detectives on the phone while soaking in a tub at a Cleveland hotel he and Camel were staying at the night of Aug. 5 after they’d left a business card at his cousin’s house. They met up at Crocker Park the following day.
He said they asked him for a sample of his DNA and he agreed.
“Anything to remove me from this, not for me, but for the Dukes,” Randleman said.
According to Randleman, he did not ask to speak to a lawyer until he found out police found his phone at the scene of the murder.
During his testimony, Randleman claimed the glasses found at the murder scene with his DNA belonged to a friend. He also claimed he had sold Dukes the Ruger P89 9 mm pistol with black electrical tape on the handle.
The weapon, found inside Dukes’ apartment, tested positive for traces of Randleman’s DNA.
Under cross-examination by County Assistant Prosecutor Laura Dezort, Randleman became defiant.
He repeatedly elaborated on his answers to yes or no questions, accused Dezort of lying and accused the police of not doing their job in the investigation.
Common Pleas Judge Christopher R. Rothgery repeatedly admonished Randleman for his outbursts.
During the examination, Randleman said he had purchased the Ruger from a man in Lorain for $100 and sold it to Dukes for $150 because Dukes wanted an untraceable gun.
When asked why he didn’t tell that to police, he replied, “they didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t ask, you never asked,” Randleman said.
He was asked why he continually referenced Proverbs 31 in his jailhouse phone calls with Camel. Prosecutors have said they believe it was in an effort to pressure her into lying in her testimony.
“See, where you all keep talking about Proverbs 31, you’re talking about me using my father’s words to make an individual lie; no,” he said. “It’s called a woman fearing God. You fear God. You put God first and everything comes after.”
The trial is set to resume with closing arguments July 17.