Witnesses testified Tuesday in a capital murder trial about the night two men died in a drug-related robbery in a Texarkana, Ark., apartment complex in 2015.
Justin Damone Johnson, 29, is accused of conspiring to rob 22-year-old Trevon Staten the night of Nov. 19, 2015.
In opening statements Tuesday morning, Johnson's lawyer, Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana, told the jury the central issue in the case is identity while Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black described the case as, "the perfect plan until things didn't go as planned."
Sherlysa Gulley, the mother of Staten's 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, testified under questioning from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Cotten that she had been home for less than 10 minutes when Staten answered a knock at the couple's second-floor unit of the Beacon Point Apartments. Gulley said she left her shift at a local grocery store and picked up food from McDonald's on State Line Avenue before heading home at about 11:45 p.m. Gulley said she was sitting on the living room sofa, feeding her young daughter, when she heard Staten say, "What's up bro," as he opened the door after looking through the peephole.
Gulley said she saw one man, whose face was partially uncovered, and others wearing black masks. Gulley said the shooting started immediately. Gulley said she covered her daughter as a man she identified in court and in a photo lineup after the shooting pointed a gun at her.
Rashod Rushing, 29, gave an account similar to Gulley's. Rushing, who is Staten's cousin, said he'd spent most of the day with Staten at his apartment. Rushing said Staten was in possession of quantities of marijuana, Xanax bars and "mollies," which he was in the business of selling and that Staten had approximately $2,000 in his pocket before the robbery. Rushing said Staten was expecting someone to stop by with "drank," a street term for narcotic cough medicine commonly mixed with soda and used recreationally.
Rushing said he hit the floor under the kitchen table when the bullets began to fly but did see a man he said Tuesday he is "100 percent" certain was Justin Johnson. Under cross examination by Harrelson, Rushing conceded that he had told police in the days after the shooting he was "80 percent" sure he saw Justin Johnson in the apartment after looking at photos on Facebook. Rushing said he became convinced after seeing Justin Johnson in the jail.
Texarkana, Ark., crime scene investigator Tye Whatley testified as grisly crime scene photos showing the interior of apartment 102 were shown to the jury. Chairs were overturned, bullet casings peppered the floor, and Staten's lifeless body lay on the floor, a large pool of blood around his head. One of Staten's pockets was turned out and the other contained $.26 cents and a clip for a .40 caliber handgun, Whatley said under questioning from Black. The cash Rushing testified was in Staten's possession before the robbery was not found. Officers did find more than $2,300 in a lock box in Staten's bedroom closet and roughly $500 in loose, unstacked bills was found in a bag in his daughter's bedroom closet, Whatley testified.
On the stairs leading to Staten's apartment and on the ground at the base of them, investigators found baggies, bags of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia. Lying in the grass not far from the apartment stairs lay the body of Julian Bolton.
Rushing said that after the shooting stopped he grabbed a .40 caliber pistol from Staten's bedroom and ran outside and down the stairs. Rushing said he encountered Bolton, suffering from a gunshot wound, crawling on the grass, and fired two shots from the .40 caliber pistol into Bolton's head, ending his life. Rushing has been charged with second-degree murder in Bolton's death and testified Tuesday in an orange Miller County jail jumpsuit.
Experts from the Arkansas State Crime Lab testified that the bullet removed from Bolton's gut was a .25 caliber projectile while those removed from his head were .40 caliber.
Misti Houff testified she and Bolton were living together at the time of his death. She said Bolton's two guns, a .25 caliber pistol and a sawed-off shotgun, have been missing since she began looking for them after Bolton was killed. Houff said that she was at home after midnight the morning of April 20 when she saw car lights in her driveway. Houff said Justin Johnson was leaving Bolton's SUV at her home while another car waited.
"I asked him, 'Where is he,' and he just shook his head," Houff testified.
Texarkana, Ark., Sgt. Paul Nall testified that he acquired phone records after interviewing witnesses which show Justin Johnson called Staten the night of the shooting and that Justin Johnson is listed in Staten's contact list as, "J drank."
Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson instructed the jury to return to court this morning to continue hearing testimony in the case. Justin Johnson faces life without the possibility of parole if found guilty of capital murder as the state is not seeking the death penalty. Justin Johnson is also charged with two counts of aggravated assault for allegedly pointing a gun at Gulley and her daughter. Those counts are punishable by up to six years in prison.