DNA evidence supports allegations against Granada shooter

By Eric Weslander (Contact)

Police say DNA evidence implicates a man who’s charged in the deadly shooting earlier this year outside a downtown night club.

DNA swabs taken from the handgun believed to have been used in the Feb. 5 shooting matched the DNA swabs taken from the mouth of suspect Rashawn T. Anderson after his arrest, Lawrence Police Detective Zach Thomas testified this afternoon during Anderson’s preliminary hearing.

Anderson is charged with shooting and killing Robert E. Williams, 46, after an argument following a hip-hop show at the Granada, 1020 Mass. Today’s hearing was the first time details have emerged of the investigation that led to Anderson’s arrest.

“The identity of the alleged shooter is going to be a very contested issue in this case,” Defense Attorney Mark Manna said.

A key piece of evidence in the case is a video shot outside the Granada minutes before the shooting by a contractor for Upset Records, the Denver-based record label that produced the show. In the video, Williams can be seen wearing a long black coat and bowler-style hat as he argues loudly with a group of men and his wife, LaTonia Coleman, tries to pull him away from the dispute.

Many of the people who had been on the sidewalk around that time didn’t come forward to police after Williams’ death. Detectives obtained the video from the record label and worked with Topeka police to identify the people who were pictured in it, Lawrence Police Det. Lance Flachsbarth testified.

A man who appears to be Anderson can be seen in the background in the video as Williams argues with another man. But the actual shooting wasn’t on the video shown in court today.