Killings of Rite Aid pharmacist, East Lansing man detailed

EAST LANSING -- Ricard Taylor wanted to know if the over-the-counter eye drops could kill him or cause his eyes to bleed or fall out.

Taylor -- who was ordered Friday to stand trial in the May 12 killings of his neighbor and a Rite Aid pharmacist -- first directed questions to Brian Czerwinski, a "wellness ambassador" at the Rite Aid near the Frandor Shopping Center.

Czerwinski told Taylor he had to talk to a pharmacist. So Taylor spoke with 35-year-old Michael Addo at the pharmacy pickup window.

Taylor would later tell detectives he didn't like Addo's answers -- that Addo "pissed him off."

He also told detectives during the same interview that he believed Addo, an immigrant from Ghana who left a wife and infant daughter in his native country, "was an important person."

At the pharmacy window, Czerwinski handled the transaction as Taylor tried to pay for the eye drops with an unknown card. The card came back as "invalid."

About an hour later, around 11 a.m., Taylor returned to the mostly empty store. Taylor, wearing a black coat and carrying a satchel, wanted to talk to Addo again.

"He said he was a doctor and wanted to show Michael his credentials," Czerwinski testified.

Friday's hearing, in 54B District Court before Judge Richard Ball, was the first time the events of that day have been detailed publicly. The hearing determined if there was enough evidence for a trial. Taylor has admitted killing Addo and another man, 27-year-old Jordan Rogers, who lived next to Taylor.

Addo finished some tasks in the pharmacy and eventually led Taylor into a patient consultation room. He used a chair to prop open the door between the consultation room and the pharmacy.

Addo asked Taylor for identification. The door eventually was closed.

A few minutes later, at least five gunshots rang out. Among Addo's gunshot wounds was one to his eye.

Czerwinski ran outside with two other employees.

"I was in shock," he said.

Czerwinski said he watched as Taylor calmly walked out of the store's front entrance, making "a smiling gesture toward us."

Taylor told detectives he then went to his Coolidge Road home, reloaded the handgun's magazine and stashed it in a pocket.

He knocked on Rogers' door. The two had argued the previous night and Taylor said he wanted to finish what they'd started. When Rogers answered, Taylor pulled out the gun, but saw a child sleeping on a couch.

"He didn't want to shoot (Rogers) in front of the child," Lansing police Detective Brad St. Aubin testified Friday.

Taylor forced Rogers to the back of the home and shot him multiple times.

Rogers was able to run to the doorstep of a neighbor's home. Isaiah Myers, an East Lansing High School student, found Rogers lying on his back, bleeding, with "a hole in his shoulder."

"What was he saying?" Ingham County Assistant Prosecutor John Dewane asked.

"That he was dying," Myers said.

Taylor, a local street musician, has no criminal record in Michigan. His mental health has been a question since his arrest. He told a friend that he is schizophrenic, but it's not known if he has been diagnosed with any mental illness.

Earlier this summer, Taylor underwent tests at the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry and was found competent to stand trial – meaning he can understand what is happening and assist in his own defense. However, it still has not been determined if he can be held criminally responsible for the shootings, said his attorney Keith Watson.

Watson declined to comment further.

During the lengthy interview with detectives (the transcript is 48 pages, according to testimony), Taylor said he believed his life was in danger. He said he has an honorary university degree, speaks multiple languages, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder while serving as a "cook" in the Navy and was applying for a job with the CIA.

He said he'd been poisoned at a local restaurant.

It is known that Taylor enlisted in the Navy in 2007. He was discharged after seven weeks of boot camp, officials have previously said. He was married and divorced that same year.

He also lived for a time at a Lansing homeless shelter.

Taylor is charged with two counts of murder, carrying a concealed weapon and several other gun charges. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison. He is being held without bond at the Ingham County Jail.