Delmar Drive beating suspect in court

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - Terry Rawls, the man accused of beating Matthew Owens on Delmar Drive, faced a preliminary hearing Tuesday.

Details of what investigators believe happened on Delmar Dr. back in April of this year were made public during the hearing.

Rawls, the defendant, is accused of beating Owens so badly he had to be hospitalized after the incident.

Defense attorney Dennis Knizley argued on behalf of Owens, while District Attorney Ashley Rich argued for the state.

Rich called a Mobile Police investigator to testify about the incident.

He said that through his investigation, he found out Owens was outside a home on Delmar Drive when a group of kids came walking down the street.

The investigator said the kids went into a yard just up from where Owens was standing. That’s when Owens and the kids, ranging in age from 6 years old to late teens, traded words.

Witnesses told the investigator that the argument escalated and racial obscenities were yelled by both parties. A witness said Owens then went inside the home where he was staying, and came out with what appeared to be kitchen knives.

One witness told police that Owens came out asking the group, “Do you want to fight?… Now it’s even.”

The investigator testified that a short time later, Rawls and several others were seen walking down the road toward the home where Owens was staying. The investigator said the witness claims Owens saw the group, dropped the knives, and ran towards the home where he was staying.

The investigator said the group descended on the home, and that’s when the alleged attack happened.

In an interview after the hearing, Rich said about Rawls, “He was the person identified by two people as being the person who had a bat and was hitting the victim”.

Knizley disputed that, saying the only reason Rawls was arrested was because of a dispute between him and Owens several years earlier.

“As you heard in the preliminary hearing, Mr. Owens came to Mr. Rawls house and said some inappropriate things to Mr. Rawls,” Knizley said. “A fracas came about, that’s the only reason he’s arrested here.”

That altercation happened back in 2009. Rawls was arrested and charged with assault. The case went to a Mobile grand jury, but Owens didn’t come forward as the victim. No indictment was handed up by the grand jury.

Rich acknowledged the history between Owens and Rawls but says the charges are justified.

“What’s important here is that at the time of the assault, at the time of the beating, the victim did not have any weapons whatsoever, at the time he was beat by a bat by the defendant,” said Rich.

CONTINUING COVERAGE: Delmar Drive beating incident

Judge Charles McKnight bound the case over to a grand jury.

The prosecution also asked the judge for a special bond hearing in the case, saying that Rawls has three prior felony convictions, and the standard bond should have never been given to Rawls.

The judge granted the special hearing and ordered it be scheduled for this week. Rich said she will be asking for a much higher bond due to the crime and Rawls’ prior convictions.

Rawls is charged with assault, and could face 20 years to life in prison due to his repeat offender status.