photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Rontarus Washington Jr. is pictured outside of a courtroom on Dec. 27, 2023, in Shawnee County District Court.

A man whose lengthy incarceration on a murder charge led to protests in 2020 has been arrested and named as a witness in the shooting death of a 17-year-old boy.

The man, Rontarus Washington Jr., 27, of Lawrence, was arrested Thursday near the homicide scene on suspicion of misdemeanor battery and interference with law enforcement after allegedly being involved in a fight hours after the homicide.

The boy who was killed was 17-year-old Isaiah Neal, the son of Natasha Neal, a local Black Lives Matter activist who led protests to free Washington in the summer of 2020, including shutting down a portion of Massachusetts Street for several days. The Neals and Washington share an address on Alabama Street, according to court records. The Journal-World has reached out to Natasha Neal for comment about the shooting.

photo by: Kim Callahan

Protesters occupy a stretch of Massachusetts Street Monday, June 29, 2020. The view is looking north toward downtown Lawrence. The painting on the street says “#BLM” and “Free Rontarus,” a reference to a Black defendant in a Lawrence murder case.

The alleged fight occurred just before 8 a.m. Thursday, hours after the homicide. Also arrested in connection with the fight was Reginald Letonia Mitchell, 24, of Lawrence. Both Washington and Mitchell have addresses listed at apartments in the 2400 block of Alabama.

Both men were later released on own-recognizance bonds, meaning they were not required to pay any money to be released.

About six hours before the alleged fight, Isaiah Neal was shot multiple times and later died from his wounds at an area hospital, as the Journal-World reported.

Cir Allen Keith Glover, 18, of Lawrence, has been charged with second-degree intentional murder in Neal’s death. He was arrested Friday afternoon.

Washington spent more than five years in custody of the Douglas County Jail after being charged with murder in connection with the death of Justina Altamirano Mosso, 19, whose body was found Nov. 9, 2014, at her Lawrence apartment after she had been repeatedly bludgeoned and stabbed.

Washington went to trial for the charge in 2019, but a Douglas County jury was unable to reach a verdict. He was set to be retried, but Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez later dismissed the charge in December 2021. Washington later sued for wrongful incarceration, but his lawsuit was eventually dismissed, as the Journal-World reported.

Valdez has not charged anyone else with Altamirano Mosso’s death.

Washington has a pending case in Shawnee County, where in August 2023 he allegedly robbed a gas station and battered the clerk of the store with a gun. He was arrested immediately after the incident and was charged with one felony count each of aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, felony interference with law enforcement and one misdemeanor count of attempted battery on a law enforcement agent, according to charging documents.

He had pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of attempted robbery and one count of aggravated battery, both of which are person felonies, according to a plea agreement with the state. The state dismissed the remaining charges as part of the agreement.

Washington later asked the court to withdraw his plea and said that his attorney had misled him into believing that the plea was the only way to get out of jail and home to his young son — an accusation that the attorney has denied. Washington is scheduled to appear in court in Shawnee County on June 28, when a judge will determine whether he can withdraw his plea or whether he will be sentenced in accordance with the plea agreement.