Case of Slaying Near Landmark Is Sent to Grand Jury

Witness Says She Saw Suspect Fire Handgun

A witness testified in a preliminary hearing Tuesday that she saw Randy D. Baldon, a 25-year-old Alexandria man charged with first-degree murder, shoot another man several times and flee.

And two Alexandria police detectives said they linked a handgun recovered near the scene to the shooting.

After the testimony, Alexandria General District Court Judge Donald M. Haddock Jr. sent the case to a grand jury for possible indictment.

Baldon, of the 200 block of South Reynolds Street, was arrested Aug. 26, after police said he fired multiple times, killing Darrell M. Williams, 35. Williams's body was found about 8:30 p.m. near the sidewalk in the 200 block of South Whiting Street, not far from Landmark Mall.

Prosecutors at the hearing asked that the witness not be identified for fear of reprisal. She said she heard gunfire as she was getting into her car after visiting her son at the city's juvenile detention center. When she looked up, she saw Baldon firing a gun and then running away with another man, she said.

Detective Irv Ellman testified that police found a Beretta .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun wrapped in a plastic tarp in a wooded area nearby. Shell casings of the same caliber were found near the body, he said.

During the autopsy, seven .22-caliber projectiles were removed from Williams's body, Ellman said. After executing a search warrant for Baldon's home, police found a .22-caliber ammunition magazine and a gun case for a Beretta .22-caliber handgun that was empty save for a gun lock, Ellman and Detective Thomas Durkin said.

Williams had no fixed address and was thought to have been homeless.

Baldon was found guilty in 2006 of carrying a concealed weapon in Fairfax County. He received a suspended sentence and was fined $200. He was also convicted of possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia. This year in Arlington County, he was found guilty in absentia of driving with a suspended license.

Defense attorney Denise Tassi asked the judge to reduce the charge from first-degree murder, saying there was no premeditation. Haddock refused, saying that the decision was outside the scope of a preliminary hearing, which is solely to determine whether there is probable cause to think the defendant committed a felony.

The grand jury is expected to hear the case when it meets Oct. 14.