A 22-year-old man known on the street as KD will serve 17 to 21 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a 21-year-old man inside a home on Anson Street in April 2023. Khalil Adur-Rahman admitted to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Carlos Leon Rice, closing out a case that involved witness statements and phone records.
Guilty Plea Comes Years After the Shooting
Adur-Rahman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on October 13 in Forsyth County Superior Court, according to the Forsyth County District Attorney’s Office, as reported by WXII 12 News. He was sentenced to 17 to 21 years in state prison, with a minimum term of 17 years. Rice was shot in April 2023 in the 600 block of Anson Street in Winston-Salem, and investigators concluded that Adur-Rahman was the shooter, though they never determined a motive for the killing.
Forsyth County District Attorney James R. O’Neill said officers found Rice shot inside a home, lying on the floor. According to Univision, the shooting happened at approximately 4:15 p.m. in the same block of Anson Street. WXII reported that officers found Rice on April 30 around 4:20 p.m.
Phone Records Linked the Nickname to a Suspect
Investigators said Adur-Rahman visited Rice’s residence multiple times before the shooting, and it was phone records that ultimately tied the nickname KD to him. Once that connection was made, O’Neill said a warrant was issued for Adur-Rahman’s arrest on a murder charge. He was arrested in New York and brought back to Forsyth County to face the case, the same account states.
A Rising Homicide Count in Winston-Salem
Rice’s death was counted as the 21st homicide in Winston-Salem that year, up from 19 recorded during the same period the previous year, according to Univision. The outlet identified Rice as a 21-year-old Hispanic man who died in the shooting on Anson Street.
What Second-Degree Murder Carries Under State Law
Under North Carolina’s criminal statute, a person convicted of second-degree murder is punished as a Class B1 felon, except when the malice element is based on an inherently dangerous act or omission done in a reckless and wanton manner manifesting utter disregard for human life and social duty and deliberately bent on mischief, in which case the offense is instead punished as a Class B2 felony, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. The state’s sentencing guidelines, laid out in a separate document from the same legislative body, note that each cell in its sentencing table lists a minimum term followed by a maximum term — the same minimum-maximum structure reflected in Adur-Rahman’s 17-to-21-year sentence.
