The killing of a former soldier last month may have been the result of a marijuana robbery gone wrong, District Attorney Dan May said at a medical marijuana debate Wednesday night.

Timothy Roath, 23, was shot in the head and killed July 29 at the Park Ridge Apartments, just north of Maizeland Road and Academy Boulevard. Kirby Braithwaite, 26, and Anthony Swindle, 29, were arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death.

At the debate on medical marijuana, May offered the incident as an example of marijuana-related crime. He did not provide any details.

May’s office asserted the arrest affidavits for Swindle and Braithwaite stated that Roath’s killing was a set up tied to a medical marijuana deal. However, the documents released by the courts blacked out all details related to the reason for the meeting at the apartment.

According to Swindle’s arrest affidavit, Roath went to the apartments that night with a friend, 22-year-old Andrew Poarch, to meet Swindle.

“Mr. Swindle confirmed he had scheduled the meeting with Mr. Poarch,” the affidavit states, but the rest of the sentence is blacked out. Court officials said Thursday federal privacy laws required them to edit it out of the affidavit because it refers to a medical condition. The DA later released an unedited copy of the affidavit which stated Poarch told investigators the purpose of the meeting was to “complete a licensed marijuana transaction.”

When the two arrived at Swindle’s apartment, Braithwaite allegedly confronted the group with a gun, demanding to know what was in Poarch’s backpack, according to Braithwaite’s arrest affidavit.

Swindle told police he ran from the apartment and later heard two gunshots.

Roath pulled a gun and demanded Braithwaite drop his weapon, but Braithwaite grabbed Roath’s gun, according to Poarch’s statement to police.

A struggle over Roath’s gun broke out and the gun went off, hitting Braithwaite under his right armpit. Braithwaite got control of the gun, and Poarch ran to the parking lot, when he heard a gunshot. According to the affidavit, Poarch saw Braithwaite run from the scene. When Poarch returned to the entrance of the apartment, he found Roath lying in a pool of blood.

Braithwaite showed up at the emergency room at Memorial Hospital Central about 20 minutes later with his girlfriend and 1-month-old son. There, he gave a fake name and told authorities he was stabbed.—

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Fourth Judicial District Attorney Dan May, right, and state Rep. Mark Waller debated medical marijuana with Councilmen Sean Paige and Tom Gallagher on Wednesday. Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE