A Wheaton man pleaded guilty Friday to the 2021 murder of Darcel Cole, 29, who died more than nine months after he was beaten outside a Silver Spring restaurant, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Nickolis Williams, 33, pleaded guilty Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court to second-degree murder. Under a plea agreement, he faces up to 30 years in prison, the State’s Attorney’s Office said Friday in a release. His sentencing is scheduled for May 30.
According to court documents, Williams got into an argument with Cole at the Odalis Restaurant at 8215 Georgia Ave. in the early morning of Dec. 18, 2021, and the two went outside to fight.
Surveillance video cameras captured the two men walking to a nearby parking lot where they began fistfighting. Williams, who was larger than Cole and had boxing training, punched Cole and knocked him to the ground, according to court documents.
Surveillance video shows Cole was lying motionless on the ground as Williams punched him in the head and then stomped on his head multiple times, court documents stated.
“Williams remains in the area for approximately twenty minutes but does not attempt to find Cole medical attention,” court documents said. Then he fled on foot towards George Avenue.
Around 3 a.m., county police officers and Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded to the alley between Thayer and Georgia avenues for the report of an assault and found Cole unresponsive with significant head trauma, according to court documents.
He was transported to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., where he was admitted to the intensive care unit, court documents stated.
He remained in a “vegetative state” for about nine and a half months in the hospital before he succumbed to his injuries, according to court documents.
Williams was arrested after the fact and “initially denied any involvement but later admitted to the attack,” court documents said. Police found sneakers with blood on them in Williams’ car, and DNA testing revealed that the blood was Darcel Cole’s, according to court documents.
Williams’ attorney, Richard Finci, told MoCo360 in a phone call that his client took responsibility for his actions.
“The whole event was a tragic circumstance,” Finci said. “They were mutually fighting, and he lost his cool.”