Defendant says he intended to rip off man during 2019 drug deal, but then shot him in self-defense; jury to begin deliberations

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Howard Collins Levite testifies at his trial on Feb. 14, 2024, in Douglas County District Court. He is charged with attempted murder and attempted robbery in connection with a shooting at a Lawrence McDonald's in 2019.

A Leavenworth man charged with attempted murder testified on Wednesday in Douglas County District Court that he had planned to rip off a man who was buying drugs from him but that he ended up shooting the man in self-defense.

The defendant, Howard Collins Levite, 32, faces one felony count of attempted first-degree murder and one felony count of attempted robbery in connection with an incident around 6 p.m. on Oct. 26, 2019, in the parking lot of McDonald’s, 1309 W. Sixth St., where Levite is alleged to have shot then-51-year-old James Beltch.

Levite’s trial began on Tuesday, when the jury heard testimony from Beltch, several witnesses and law enforcement.

Levite took the stand Wednesday and told the jury that he had never met Beltch before and his and Beltch’s mutual friend Jessica Tinder, now deceased, set up the meeting. Levite said that Tinder was always bothering him for pills and when Tinder found out Beltch was looking to buy a larger quantity, she called Levite. He said he wanted $20 a pill but if he could sell them in bulk he would make a deal.

Levite said they eventually negotiated the price down to $10 a pill for 100 pills but between the time he first spoke with Tinder and when they finally arranged to meet Beltch, Levite only had between 65 and 75 pills left. Instead of telling Beltch he didn’t have 100, Levite said he planned to give Beltch what he had, hoping Beltch wouldn’t notice.

Levite said he and Tinder arrived at the McDonald’s before Beltch, and while he was waiting he devised a plan to approach Beltch from a different direction from where Tinder had parked the car in case something happened during the deal.

“I was thinking what he might do if there weren’t 100 pills,” Levite said.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Howard Collins Levite testifies at his trial on Feb. 14, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

Once Beltch arrived, Levite approached from the nearby alley, and Beltch let him into the car, Levite said. Beltch asked specifically to count the pills, and Levite refused. He said Beltch started getting mad, and his “nostrils were flaring and his eyes were bulging” like Beltch was “tweaking” or was high. He said he just wouldn’t give Beltch the pills without getting the money.

“If that’s not what we’re going to do, I can sell these pills somewhere else,” Levite said he told Beltch.

Levite then tried to exit the car, but Beltch grabbed his arm and wouldn’t let go, Levite said.

“I told him I was leaving. He reached over and grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go. He (Beltch) said ‘I’ll gut you [N-word]’,” Levite said.

Levite said he had noticed something in Beltch’s hand on the steering wheel. He first thought it was money that Beltch was going to give him, but when things got heated he realized it was a black pocket knife, he said. He and Beltch struggled, he said, as Beltch was trying to open the knife. Levite said he then feared that Beltch would in fact “gut” him.

“I just reacted,” Levite said, indicating that he wasn’t thinking when he pulled his gun and fired one shot at Beltch.

He said he then ran away and concealed the gun when he realized he was in a crowded parking lot. Tinder then picked him up nearby, and they left Lawrence. He said when police later contacted him about the incident he lied to them and said he knew nothing about it.

“I was scared. (I was) a Black man that just shot a white man,” Levite said.

Levite said he never threatened Beltch and simply acted out of fear when he couldn’t escape Beltch’s grasp. He said that he had chambered a round in the gun when he first put it in his pocket that morning.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal asked Levite what type of gun he had used and what happened to the gun. Levite said it was a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson that he later sold.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal questions defendant Howard Levite during a trial on Feb, 14, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

Leal then asked if Beltch actually ever opened the knife during the altercation, to which Levite said “no.”

“I wasn’t going to sit around and let him,” Levite said.

Levite said that he didn’t expect anything to happen during the deal. Leal asked if that was the case why he needed the gun.

“I carry a gun everywhere I go,” Levite said.

Leal asked if Levite carried the gun during drug deals and when he planned to rip somebody off. Levite repeated multiple times, “I carry a gun everywhere I go.”

Prior to Levite’s testimony, his attorney, Angelo Panas, played audio recordings of Beltch’s three interviews with now-retired Lawrence police detective Charles Cottengim. He asked Cottengim if he followed up on the inconsistencies between Beltch’s story from interview to interview. In one interview Beltch denied that it was a drug deal. Then he said he was only buying a couple of pills; then he admitted that he wanted to buy 20 to 30 pills.

Cottengim said that Beltch was in the hospital during the first interview and was heavily drugged after surgery. He said that Beltch spoke with greater clarity during the second and third interviews in the following days.

Panas also asked Cottengim if a knife was recovered. Cottengim confirmed that a black pocket knife was taken into evidence but it wasn’t clear where exactly the knife had been found. Beltch previously testified that the knife belonged to him and denied that he ever pulled it from his pocket.

Court adjourned early Wednesday afternoon for the parties to prepare instructions for the jury. Leal said he wanted to add a lesser charge for the jury to consider, second-degree reckless murder. Judge Sally Pokorny then asked the defense to prepare the instructions for self-defense, though she said she had not yet determined if self-defense would be allowed.

She said the parties would work the details out through Wednesday afternoon and that the jury should return Thursday morning for closing remarks and to deliberate.

Levite is currently in federal custody after a 2021 conviction in U.S. District Court of Missouri, where he was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, plus intent to distribute Xanax. He is serving 68 months for that conviction and was brought to Douglas County to face his current charges. After his trial he is expected to also face charges for obstruction in Leavenworth County and for fleeing from police in Jackson County, according to court records.

He has additional convictions in Douglas County in 2010 for robbery and burglary, as well as felony drug convictions in Leavenworth County in 2012 and Wyandotte County in 2016, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal, right, and former Lawrence police detective Charles Cottengim prepare to present GPS data to a Douglas County jury on Feb. 13, 2024.