Serial Serial Season 3
In the Serial podcast’s Season 3 Episode 5, the majority of the story is about Aavielle Wakefield case, but part of the episode also concerns prosecutor Brian Radigan and the history of prosecution in general. At one point in the podcast, they talk about a bus shooting involving former heavyweight boxer Abdul Rahman and a video that shows the entire sequence of events. You can watch the video below. This post has major spoilers for Season 3 Episode 5 of Serial.
This is surveillance video from the Cleveland RTA, Cleveland.com points out. It shows the shooting of Andrew Easley, 39, during a July 2017 confrontation. A grand jury found, after seeing the video, that Abdul Rahman acted in self-defense when he shot Easley. Easley’s older sister later told Sarah Koenig that she did not understand why Rahman wasn’t charged and, after watching the video, did not think he was acting in self-defense. What do you think?
Abdul Rahman was known as Ricardo Spain when he was a former heavyweight boxer who even once fought Mike Tyson. As Koenig pointed out, he had 23 losses out of 26 fights. He fought Tyson in Atlantic City in 1985 and was knocked out in 38 seconds. At the time of the bus video, he was 63.
You can watch the full fight between Mike Tyson and Ricardo Spain below.
In 2017 when he was indicted, Fox 8 explained that a grand jury decided that he would only receive charges related to the gun, including carrying a concealed weapon since he was a felon and should not have had a gun, Fox 8 reported. Koenig explained on Serial that the surveillance video from the bus is what convinced the grand jury that he was acting in self-defense. Rahman had pleaded not guilty in court. He had a public defender.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutors’ official statement was: “The Grand Jury deliberated, considered possible charges and returned an indictment charging Abdul Rahman on one count of Having Weapons While Under Disability and one count of Carrying a Concealed Weapon regarding the July 12, 2017 incident involving the death of Mr. Andrew Easley near the RTA bus Superior Route.”
Andrew Easley, meanwhile, had four children under the age of 19 when he was shot, Cleveland.com reported. He was riding the bus to a friend’s house when he followed Rahman off the bus, threatened him, and was shot at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. Early media reports portrayed Rahman as the instigator, but the video revealed that Rahman was the one who had been harassed. Easley’s ex-wife, Morrita, said that he was a great father and remained in her children’s lives even after they broke up. His children were ages 15 to 19, and her children were 26, 23, and 21 when he died. Easley had worked as a cook at the I-X Center.