The son of a former top âde Blasio administration aide was recorded gettingâ high on âmarijuana several hours after he fatally stabbed a teen durâing a dispute đover drug money in New Jersey, a prosecutor said in court Thursday.
A cellphone video obtained by authorities shows Khari Noerdlinger, 19, “looking calm” while hanging out with friends following the slaying of Savion Lewallen, 16, Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Grootenboer said.
“He is texting. He is sitting on a couch. He is smoking marijuana,” âthe prosecutor said.
Authorities found a knife with a 7-1/2-to-8-inch blade hidden inside a box spring in Noerdlinger’s bedroom, along with drugâ-âpackaging materials and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, Grootenboer said.
There was also an odor ođŚf pot in the room, part of the Edgewater, N.J., apartment where Noerdlinger lives with his mom, Rachel Noerdlinger, and her boyfriend, Grootenboer said.
Rachel Noerdlinger formerly worked as the $170,000-a-year chief of staff for Mayor de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray.
The evidence against her son was revealed during a hearing at which the defense sought to lower his $500,000 cash bail in the Sunday night slayiââng of Lewallen, for which he is chđarged with aggravated manslaughter and other crimes.
Officials have said that Lewallen worked as a drug dealer under Noerdlinger, đaꌯnd went to confront him over money Lewallen believed he was owed.
Defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman said that Noerdlinger “was being beaten half to death” by Lewallen and several companions when “he reached up to defend himself” and stabbed Lewallen in the right thigh.
The wound severed Lewallen’s femoral artery and he died at the hospital several hours later.
Four people who traveled with Lewallen from Rockland County to Edgewater are charged with armed robbery and conspiracy, and the prosecutor conceded during Thursday’s hearing that “the evidence will show that the violence was initiated by people with [Lewallen].”
Bergen County Judge James Guida rejected a defense request to lower Noerdlinger’s bail to $75,000, reducing it instead to $300,000 cash, which he said fell within the $200,000 to $300,000 range recommended for homicide cases.
Lichtman said outside court that Noerdđ¤Şlinger would likely be freed on bail Thursday.
Rachel Noerdlinger declined to comment.