Victim takes stand in attempted murder trial
The trial of two men accused of shooting Lionel Thomas Jr continued on Friday, with the victim on the stand.
Shelton Baker and Stacey Robinson have both denied charges of attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and using a firearm to commit an indictable offence in connection to the shooting, which took place on April 30 last year.
Also on trial is Roshuntae Davis, who has denied a charge of assisting Shannon Dill after the fact. Dill has already admitted charges linked to the shooting.
Prosecutors have alleged that Mr Baker, Mr Robinson and Dill all worked together to carry out the shooting, while Ms Davis attempted to remove Dill’s car from the scene.
On the stand, Mr Thomas said that he was cutting through a neighbour’s yard on his way home in the early hours of April 30, 2014 when he saw a group of people walking up a set of outdoor stairs leading to his bedroom.
He said he sneaked around to the back of the house to see what was going on, but did not see the men while there.
On his way back to the front of the house, he said he saw three men in dark clothes.
He confronted the group, saying something similar to: “Are you guys here to rob me or something?”
At that point, one of the men turned around and raised his arm. While he said he did not see a firearm, he saw a bright flash and heard gunshots.
Mr Thomas suffered two gunshots wounds in the incident, the court heard.
Also taking the stand was Mr Thomas’s friend, Female A, who cannot be identified owing to a reporting restriction.
She told the court that she drove to Mr Thomas’s house at about 1am on the day of the shooting.
She was then joined by Mr Thomas and the pair drove to a nearby parking area. There, she said she noticed a black car without licence plates parked near by.
“I just parked in front of it, a bit to the side so they could go across,” she said.
“I didn’t want to block anybody in.”
She and Mr Thomas got out of the car and began to walk towards his house.
“He was a bit in front of me, so I was asking him to slow down because I couldn’t see in front of me,” she said. “Then he turned around and told me to wait there for him and gave me his chain.”
She said he walked towards the house.
After waiting for a short while, she walked back to her car and got inside.
A few minutes later, she said she saw a woman walk quickly across the front of her car.
“Maybe a minute later I heard arguing and then there was a gunshot, then two more together,” she said.
“I got lower in my car and I just waited a minute or two. I’m not sure of the timeframe.
“Then someone came running across my car. After that, a few seconds later, I heard a few people talking among themselves. It sounded like they were at the car behind me scuffling with the door or something.
“I heard them say: ‘Well, who’s is this car?’ Then they went across me, down the hill.”
After a few minutes, she attempted to call Mr Thomas on his phone, but he did not answer. Eventually, his father picked up the phone and, as a result of their conversation, she drove to the front of Mr Thomas’s house.
“I got out of the car and was about to run up the steps when I saw Lionel on the steps,” she said. “He was sitting slouched down on the steps, bleeding out.
“I went to him and asked what happened. He was in and out of consciousness.”
The trial continues.