Prosecutors are planning to drop all charges this morning against one of three men accused in the shooting death of a 23-year-old Columbia computer student last winter.

There is "insufficient evidence" to take the murder case against Robert Lee Burgess, 18, to trial in February, Deputy State's Attorney I. Matthew Campbell said yesterday. The cases against Burgess' cousins, Tavon Donya Sands and Jonas L. Askins, will proceed, he said.

"Each case has to be analyzed on its own," he said. He said he could not elaborate on the decision to drop murder, armed-robbery and related charges against Burgess.

"Ours is a line of work that is driven by the evidence," he said.

Burgess, who has been jailed on no-bond status since May, had been accused of participating - along with Sands, 21, and Askins, 18 - in a botched robbery that left DeShawn Anthony Wallace dead on a parking lot in the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road on Jan. 25.

Authorities have not alleged that Burgess was the gunman, and Burgess' lawyer said yesterday that his client had three alibi witnesses for the night of the killing. Sands is accused of firing the fatal shot, according to court testimony.

"What I am most impressed by is the state's willingness, having thoroughly investigated the case now ... to have the courage to go ahead and dismiss the case," said Burgess' attorney, Charles Jerome Ware, who issued a news release about the prosecutors' decision yesterday.

Ware said Burgess maintains that he was not at the scene of the killing and that he was taking care of his sick girlfriend and toddler son at the time. Sands was arrested within days of the shooting. Burgess was charged four months later.