CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The attorney for the man charged with killing a corrections officer in south Charlotte said his client fired in self-defense at the bond hearing Thursday.
Raphael White is charged with killing Bias Easley near Easley's home on Farmhurst Drive in June 2014.
Past coverage: Correctional officer, father of 2 killed in shooting
Witnesses told police they had seen the two men fighting that day.
In court Thursday afternoon, White's attorney, James Exum, told a judge that Easley was the aggressor in that fight.
Exum said that Easley got a gun from nearby bushes and fired at White, who returned fire.
"We think it's a self-defense case," said Exum.
He said that the two men had gotten into "an old-fashioned fistfight" and that Easley had fired at least one shot at White before White returned fire, killing Easley.
Easley's family was in court at White's bond hearing, and Easley's mother told the judge that White is a threat who should not be allowed on the streets.
Exum said he understands her anger, but said she may not have known what he has discovered.
"I don't even know if she's aware that her son produced the gun into the altercation. She may not even know that. But it's her son, I would expect nothing different from her," Exum said.
The bond hearing was held under tight security and Judge Lisa Bell warned family and friends on both sides not to overreact before she announced that she would set a bond for White at $250,000.
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