Assistant District Attorney wants jury to decide severity of murder charges for man who allegedly killed his neighbor

A 32-year-old East Germantown man who allegedly shot and killed his neighbor in February could potentially be convicted of first-degree murder if a Commonwealth request is granted.

Assistant District Attorney Gail Fairman, who is prosecuting the case, has asked that Adrian “Rasheen” McCall be charged with murder generally in connection to the death of Lonnie Workman. This would enable a jury to decide if the charge should be first or third degree murder. 

If accepted, McCall would not be granted bail and a jury could hand down a verdict of first-degree murder during the trial phase of the case. The case’s original charge of third-degree murder is also an option.

“When you have proof of an intentional use of a deadly weapon, such as we have here, it should be held for murder generally,” said Fairman outside of a Philadelphia courtroom on Friday, after filing a motion to re-instate the charge.

Either way, McCall’s attorney, W. Fred Harrison Jr., will continue to argue for a third-degree murder charge, which was ordered by a Municipal Court judge in June during McCall’s preliminary hearing.

“I think that the complainant was the aggressor here,” said Harrison, “He put everything in motion.”

On Feb. 6, officers responded to the 5500 block of Blakemore Street at 11:06 a.m., according to police.

There, they found Workman, 30, suffering from a single bullet wound to the abdomen. He was pronounced dead at Albert Einstein Medical Center less than 20 minutes later.

According to eye-witness testimony, Workman was “ranting and raving” near McCall’s home the day of the fatal shooting, saying that he wanted to give him a “fair box” or fight.

Workman then approached McCall’s home and spoke with one of McCall’s relatives, who was waiting for her husband so the two could head to a doctor’s appointment, according to testimony given during the preliminary hearing.

After McCall appeared in the doorway, an argument broke out with Workman. McCall and Workman had argued in the past, according to testimony.

Two witnesses – Desmond Jones, McCall’s cousin, and his girlfriend Nekisha Dotson – initially told investigators that they saw McCall shoot Workman. The pair distanced themselves from those statements during the preliminary hearing.

Common Pleas Court Judge Benjamin Lerner is scheduled to review testimony and reach a decision on the matter on Aug. 20.