Classmate of 15-Year-Old Accused of Murder Describes Night of Stabbing

A classmate of the 15-year-old Walled Lake Central High School student accused of murder and assault said he saw the quarrel between his friend and , a junior at Walled Lake Northern High School. 

to the stomach in West Bloomfield.

Patch has not identified the 15-year-old student because the court has not yet determined whether he will be tried as an adult or juvenile.

Rickman's mother, Amy O'Brien, wearing a white T-shirt bearing her son’s name and clutching a stuffed bear, quietly sobbed and put her head down as she heard the witness testify.

The 17-year-old witness testified that the defendant chased Rickman outside of the house and to the victim’s car, but the witness said he did not see the actual stabbing.

More than 20 members of Rickman’s family packed the Oakland County Circuit Court on Tuesday for the prelimary examination. The defendant sat stoically in chains, glancing around the room and occasionally toward the witness stand.

The witness testified that Rickman arrived at the house on the 7300 block of Rafford with friends.He said five students had been talking in the kitchen for 30 minutes after playing basketball and eating at McDonald’s. The witness said he did not know Rickman personally but that the defendant had been a friend of his since the witness moved into the Walled Lake School District in September.

The witness said that a quarrel, which led to a fight, started between Rickman and the defendant shortly after Rickman arrived at the house. The witness said he did not believe that drugs or alcohol were involved at the house.

The witness said that Rickman, “a lot bigger” in size than the defendant, punched the defendant in the face with great force two to three times before the defendant grabbed a kitchen knife and chased Rickman outside.

The witness said he went outside with a friend and saw Rickman running to his car, a Cadillac Escalade, yelling at the defendant to stop. The witness testified that Rickman did not get into his car before the defendant held up his knife, but the witness said he did not see the actual stabbing.

The witness, dressed  in suit and tie and admitting his nervousness to Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Townsend, was called to the stand Tuesday because he is going to Alabama at the end of the week to spend the summer with his grandmother.

Family Division Judge Cheryl Matthews denied defense attorney Rowland Short's request for an adjournment.

Matthews delayed additional witness testimony until 10 a.m. Friday when,  Townsend said, a surveillance video recording of the incident from a neighbor’s house is expected to be played in open court. He expects to call four witnesses, all minors who were at the house at the time of the stabbing.

The defendant is being held without bail or bond at Children’s Village in Pontiac. According to the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office, a jury trial will be set, and the judge will be granted discretion to charge the defendant as a minor or as an adult.