Attorney: Southfield Man Strangled Wife In Self Defense
PONTIAC (WWJ) - A Southfield man accused of killing his wife in front of their three children has been bound over for trial.
A jury will decide if 38-year-old Rahim Lockridge intended to kill his wife Kenyatta or if he was simply defending himself after she attacked him.
Police said that on September 19, Lockridge choked his wife to death in front of their children during an argument over money.
Police told WWJ Newsradio 950 the girls, ages 8, 11, and 16, begged their father to stop, trying to pull him off of their mother. But when he finally let go, the 32-year old woman slumped to the floor. He then fled their Southfield home and was quickly arrested after the kids' called 9-1-1.
Friday's hearing included emotional testimony from the girls.
WWJ's Florence Walton reported that one child said "yes" over and over again when asked if her mother was "going after," pushing and punching her father.
Although Lockridge has been charged with open murder, his attorney Jerome Sabbota, said it was Kenyatta who was intoxicated and the agressor. He said Lockridge didn't even know his wife was dead when he left the house.
"I'm confident that he has a valid self defense claim. I'm also confident I don't belive it's a murder charge, based on what was said in [court] today," said Sabbota.
"Clearly, this was a woman that was drunk, she was stoned, and she was angry when she confronted him," he said.
Sabbota said the couple was in an abusive relationship and that his client had been subjected to assaults by his wife several times, but did not report it. Lockridge had was arrested last for domestic violence against his wife last November, but the charge was reduced to disorderly conduct.
