Coroner: Shooting victim couldn’t have survived

A man shot outside the Granada earlier this year was a “dead man walking” as he fled the scene with a gunshot wound through his heart, a coroner testified Thursday.

“There’s no way he could survive it,” coroner Erik Mitchell testified on the second and final day of a preliminary hearing for the suspect in the Feb. 5 shooting death of 46-year-old Robert E. Williams after a hip-hop concert at the nightclub, 1020 Mass.

In addition to the bullet that pierced his heart, Williams had gunshot wounds in the arm, lower back and midsection, Mitchell testified.

Thursday was the final day of a two-day preliminary hearing for shooting suspect Rashawn T. Anderson, 19, of Topeka. Judge Paula Martin ruled there was enough evidence to try Anderson for Williams’ death and for the shooting of another man who apparently was hit by a stray bullet.

The second victim, 23-year-old Pierre Burnette of Kansas City, Kan., testified that at the time of the shooting, he was walking with the concert’s headliner, Denver-based rap artist Doe, near the south end of Einstein Bros. Bagels. They were headed east toward the alley, where a vehicle was waiting to take them to an after-party in Kansas City.

He said he never saw a gun.

“Shots went off. I felt like something hit me in my back,” Burnette said.

Burnette said he and Doe ran to the alley behind the Granada and sought help. He was flown by helicopter to University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan., where he spent about a week in the hospital.

Burnette had some of his small intestine removed, but the bullet is still in his body. He said he has trouble with his digestive system and is being treated for anxiety disorder.

Martin scheduled a weeklong trial for Anderson starting Nov. 27. He is in the Douglas County Jail with bond set at $1 million.