Updated at 5:28 p.m.
A Burlington man accused of killing another resident of the city, Abubakar Sharrif, last weekend pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in court Friday.
Von Simmonds, 40, appeared virtually from Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. A public defender entered the plea on his behalf in Chittenden County Superior criminal court. Judge Gregory Rainville ordered Simmonds held without bail.
An affidavit written by Burlington police officer Erica Schaller alleges that Simmonds stabbed Sharrif, 23, inside the downtown restaurant Piesanos early Sunday morning with a kitchen knife that Simmonds took from behind the counter.
Citing several witness statements and video surveillance, police said a fight involving multiple people broke out inside Piesanos at around 3 a.m. on Dec. 4.
A Piesanos employee later told police she thought there were “approximately 10 people in the business that started brawling,” according to the affidavit. Other witnesses reported additional fights on the sidewalk outside around the same time.
According to the affidavit, video footage showed a man matching Simmond’s description swinging a metal table toward the men fighting. Police said Sharrif can be seen at that time getting involved, apparently trying to break up the fight. Other witnesses quoted in the affidavit also told police it appeared that Sharrif was trying to stop the fight.
The affidavit states that Simmonds then walked around the counter and grabbed a kitchen knife from the restaurant. As the fight continued, Simmonds approached Sharrif, grabbed his jacket, turned him around to face him and stabbed him in the chest with the chef’s knife, according to the affidavit. Restaurant employees later confirmed to police that one of their knives was missing.
Police said the video then shows Sharrif falling to the ground while Simmonds and the other men continue to fight, with Simmonds swinging the knife at another man at one point. After the fight ended, police said, surveillance cameras captured Simmonds walking downtown and carrying a knife.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Acting Police Chief Jon Murad said the fight initially involved three individuals: Abdirahman Mohammed, 20, Ibrahima Bangoura, 20, and Jervon Montgomery, 25. All three men are from Burlington and, according to Murad, have been arrested multiple times on a range of charges and “have been involved in prior acts of violence throughout the city.”
The chief also said that Mohammed and Bangoura were involved in separate gunfire incidents last year.
Murad said police are planning to cite the men for disorderly conduct, stating, “that is really probably the extent of what we can offer charges on.”
While Murad described Sharrif as a “longtime associate” of Mohammed, Bangoura and Montgomery, he said police do not believe that Simmonds knew anyone involved.
Murad said on Friday that police have not recovered the knife.
Burlington police and firefighters both provided medical care to Sharrif, who was transported to University of Vermont Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Police said in the affidavit that Simmonds was identified through anonymous tips that referred to him by his nickname, “Red.” Police said due to prior convictions and Simmonds being on federal probation, he was known to police by that nickname.
Police arrested Simmonds Thursday at a transitional housing facility on North Street where he was living. He is listed in a federal court database as having previously been convicted for federal drug charges.
Sharrif’s death was the fifth homicide in Burlington this year. A memorial to Sharrif, who was a Somali immigrant, was placed outside Piesanos this week, with candles, flowers and messages referring to him by his nickname, “Boosie.”