47°
Surveillance footage shows Rasheed “O.J.” Olabode, 27, begging Christopher Poole, 26, not to shoot him on April 26, 2018, authorities in Essex County said.
But Poole pulled the trigger and killed Olabode -- an amateur photographer and recent Nigerian immigrant.
The incident occurred around 10:45 a.m. when Olabode was out in Newark running errands with two of his friends.
Olabode needed a restroom, so he jumped out of the car on the 700 block of South 20th Street and began urinating behind the vehicle.
Poole, who lives on the block, apparently incensed at the sight of the victim urinating, walked into his house across the street and retrieved a gun, said Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Michael Burke, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Jason Goldberg.
He walked over to Olabode with the gun and shot him in the chest, all while Olabode begged for his life and his friends watched from the car a short distance away.
When Poole walked away, Olabode ran to the car, where his friends flagged down a police officer and called an amblance.
Olabode was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"There is nothing we can do to bring back Rasheed," Goldberg said, "but we hope that, with this sentencing, his family and loved ones will sleep a little easier."
“The victim’s only mistake was urinating on the defendant’s block. For that, somehow, Christopher Poole thought the proper response was to shoot Mr. Olabode at point blank range in cold blood as he begged for his life," Goldberg said.
"The senselessness and brutality displayed by Mr. Poole is hard to imagine,’’ said Assistant Prosecutor Goldberg."
Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler sentenced Poole to life in prison, along with 10 more years for a weapons offense.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Jersey City and receive free news updates.
