NEWARK, NJ — An Essex County jury has convicted Christopher Poole, 26, of Newark, of murdering Rasheed “O.J.” Olabode, 27, also of Newark, according to a Dec. 17 press release from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“The victim did not know the defendant, but (the defendant) shot him at point-blank range in cold blood as he begged for his life, all because the victim urinated on the defendant’s block. It’s hard to imagine a more senseless murder,” said Assistant Prosecutor Jason Goldberg, who represented the state along with Assistant Prosecutor Michael Burke.
The crime occurred on April 26, 2018, at approximately 10:45 a.m. Olabode, an amateur photographer and recent Nigerian immigrant, and two of his friends were running errands in and around the city of Newark. Olabode recognized he needed to use a restroom and, seeing none nearby, he jumped out of his vehicle on the 700 block of South 20 Street and urinated in the street behind his car.
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. The defendant then approached Olabode with the gun and shot Olabode in the chest while he begged for his life, not realizing the victim’s friends were a short distance away in the vehicle watching. When Poole walked away, Olabode ran to the car where his friends were waiting. They flagged down a police officer on South 18th Street who called an ambulance to take Olabode to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Following a trial before presiding Criminal Division Judge Ronald D. Wigler, Poole was found guilty of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 31. Poole, who has four prior felony convictions, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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