CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The suspect in the death of a corrections officer in June 2014 pleaded not guilty Thursday and will take his case to a jury.
Raphael White turned down an offer to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter and spend less than five years in prison almost a year after, prosecutors say, he shot and killed 27-year-old Bias Easley outside Easley's apartment, in south Charlotte.
Read our past coverage:
- Man charged in corrections officer's death acted in self-defense, attorney says
- Courtroom fight breaks out in Charlotte murder case
- Man wanted in corrections officer's murder turns himself in
- CMPD names 2 suspects in corrections officer's killing
- Family of slain corrections officer wants killer caught
- Correctional officer, father of 2 killed in shooting
"If we turn an offer down, we believe in our case, and we do," said James Exum, White's attorney.
Exum has said White was acting in self-defense and will show it at trial.
But emotions have run high since the shooting last June. Easley's family gears up for the showdown in court.
"He's left a widow and three children... Somebody must pay for that," said the sister of Easley's fiancée after hearing the plea.
"It's unacceptable. The family is lifting it up in prayer," she said.
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