Why attorney for latest Columbus murder suspect says his client acted in self-defense

An attorney for one of two suspects charged with murder in a deadly shooting at a Columbus garage said at a court hearing Wednesday that his client acted in self-defense.

Markale Mickles, 19, is charged with murder, two counts of aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime in the death of Quentin Scott Jr. Scott was shot and killed July 7 at a parking garage on Broadway, according to police.

Mickles pleaded not guilty to all charges before Judge David Ranieri. Detective Bobby Jackson with the Columbus Police Department spoke at the court hearing and said Brandon Day Jr., who was previously charged with murder in this incident , identified Mickles as someone who was involved in the disorder that led up to the fatal shooting. Mickles was identified as the shooter in video from the scene, Jackson said.

Day, whose murder case is still active, didn’t shoot his weapon, according to previous court testimony. He did pull a weapon during the incident, which he legally owned, according to court testimony, but someone else involved in the disorder disarmed him. Mickles shot after Day was disarmed, according to Jackson’s testimony.

Ranieri found probable cause and bound the case over to Superior Court, which moves Mickles’ case forward.

District Attorney Don Kelly was prosecuting the case against Mickles Wednesday morning.

“Every murder case is important to our office, every case that comes in our office is important to our office,” Kelly said.

William Kendrick is the defense attorney for Mickles. Kendrick claims his client acted in self-defense.

“If you go to disarm someone and take away their legally possessed firearm, then you’re going to cause a melee,” Kendrick said. “How I tracked our defense for Mr. Mickles came out of, where did the first illegal act take place, and I believe the first illegal act is the (attempted) disarming of Mr. Day.”