A 29-year-old York County man accused of shooting and killing 24-year-old Devon Coates in his Yorktown Square apartment last year pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges, setting up a jury trial June 9.
William E. Burks offered not guilty pleas to second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and wearing body armor while committing a crime. Burks, whose last known address is the 100 block of Spring Road in Lackey, is believed to have shot and killed Coates at Coates’ apartment June 24.
The charges against Burks were certified during a December preliminary hearing in York-Poquoson District Court and sent to Circuit Court where he will be tried in June. Three witnesses testified during that hearing, including a friend of Coates who told investigators he witnessed the shooting.
The friend said he was with Coates and Coates’ wife at the apartment, playing a video game upstairs around 12:30 a.m. when they heard the screen door open. After pausing the game, Coates went downstairs and soon yelled for help. The friend said he went to investigate, and when he reached the top of the stairs he saw Coates and another man who wore a bullet-proof vest scuffling in the doorway. He testified he had seen Burks wearing a bullet-proof vest in the Yorktown Square apartments earlier that day.
The friend said he did not see a weapon during the scuffle but he saw the flash and heard the shot when the gun discharged and Coates fell to the ground. Coates was shot right below his heart and died shortly after sustaining the injury.
A deputy and an investigator, both from the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office, also testified during the hearing. They said a bullet-proof vest was found near Coates’ apartment, resting on top of a .380 handgun wrapped in a red rag. Forensic analysis later confirmed that weapon had been used to shoot Coates. No fingerprints or DNA from Coates were found on the vest or gun, though investigators did discover his DNA on the rag.
Burks went to the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office the day after the shooting and said he wanted to clear his name. The statements he offered investigators were inconsistent from what they had learned from talking to others, according to a criminal complaint filed against Burks in York-Poquoson Circuit Court. He told investigators he wore a bullet-proof vest because he was afraid of being shot.
Burks spent nine years in prison from a 2004 incident in York County. He was found guilty of attempted malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and destruction of private property.
His trial begins at 9 a.m. June 9 in York-Poquoson Circuit Court.
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