A Texarkana man accused of murder in a September gas station shooting was described as the "aggressor" and a "bully" by a friend of the slain 22-year-old during trial testimony Tuesday at the Miller County Courthouse.
Lavon Strong testified Tuesday that he and Hamilton had been together most of the day when they decided to spend a little time at Raceway before a birthday party was supposed to start that Friday night. Strong said Hamilton stopped to pick up Sanmarcus Jacobs, a high school friend they spotted walking along the street, before pulling Hamilton's truck along a curb near the gas pumps and parking at the Raceway.
Strong said the men all required the use of a bathroom and walked into the store. Finding the lavatory full, Strong said Hamilton ran across the street.
When Hamilton was preparing to leave and had started his pickup, Stanton and three other riders pulled into the parking lot on motorcycles, Strong said.
Strong said three of the motorcyclists pulled into spaces at the front of the store but Stanton pulled his white one up close to the area where Hamilton's truck was idling. Strong said he could hear Stanton say, "Move your (expletive) truck," several times despite the windows of the truck being up.
Strong said he and Hamilton got out of the truck.
"We looked at each other like, 'What is this dude's problem?' We were having a good day," Strong said. "We couldn't understand why is this dude being so mean, really?"
Strong said Stanton approached them and said, "'If y'all want some problems, we can do that.' Then he showed us the gun on his side."
Under questioning from Black, Strong said he never heard Stanton say anything that would have led him to believe Stanton had mistaken Hamilton's truck for someone else's. During opening arguments Monday, Brasuell told the jury Stanton had approached the truck mistakenly believing it was someone's he knew.
Strong said Stanton's mention of his former service as a Marine led Hamilton to respond that he too had served in the military and that the men should "have more respect for each other."
Strong said he put a hand on Hamilton's chest and told him they should leave when Stanton displayed the .45 pistol holstered at his hip, but Hamilton continued to try talking Stanton out of his aggression.
"Then he pushed Jesse. You could hear his back slam against the truck," Strong said. "Then they scuffled."
Strong said Hamilton and Stanton were "hugged up" most of the time and that Stanton's life was not in danger when a woman walked up and began pulling at the back of Hamilton's shirt in an attempt to pull him off Stanton. Witnesses who testified Monday said it appeared Hamilton, 5 feet, 9 inches, was getting the best of the much larger Stanton when the woman, identified later as Emily Robinson, stepped into the fray. Strong said Jacobs attempted to move the woman away from the fight and allow the men to face each other one-on-one when Stanton took advantage of a space created between them by the woman's intervention. Stanton pulled the handgun and fired a single shot at Hamilton from a distance of no more than ten feet.
"Jesse fell to the ground and the shooter looked around. I thought he was looking for me. I ducked down 'cause I didn't want him to shoot me too. I was just terrified honestly, I was shocked," Strong said.
Strong said he was so fearful of Stanton that he did not immediately go to his friend's side.
"He's like three or four times bigger than Jesse," said Strong, who testified he is five feet eight inches tall. "He saw some smaller dudes and he was just a bully."
Strong said he wasn't able to get his cellphone to film a video of the fight. When Brasuell asked him on cross examination if he was trying to film the skirmish because he wanted to put it on YouTube, Strong replied, "No. I wanted the police to see it."
Under questioning from Black, Strong said he asked officers who responded after the shooting if the store had a surveillance system because he wanted detectives to see for themselves what had happened.
Jacobs is not available to testify in Stanton's trial because he is currently serving time in a Texas prison for burglary and auto theft. Strong is on parole for robbery.
Witnesses Monday testified Stanton stayed at the scene, immediately began to apply pressure to Hamilton's wound and asked others to help.
Two of the motorcyclists who rode alongside Stanton the night of the shooting testified Tuesday.
Laray Williams said he, Earnest Mitchell and Emily Robinson parked near the Raceway's entrance and went inside to use the bathroom. Under questioning from Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Cotten, Williams and Mitchell both testified they did not see the fight or the shooting.
Williams told the jury that he, Stanton and other riders often parked in the area that Hamilton's truck was occupying. Williams and Mitchell both testified that there was room for Stanton to park at the front of the store as they had done, but that Stanton had chosen to pull his bike up to the area where Hamilton's truck sat running.
"They were in the truck getting ready to leave," Williams testified.
Under questioning from Cotten, Williams said he did not see any visible injury to Stanton other than a scratch on his face.
Texarkana, Ark., Cpl. Shonna Yonts testified she was working as a crime scene detective the night of Hamilton's death. Yonts said she collected Stanton's gun from the trunk of Jared Durham's patrol car and cleared a bullet from the chamber. Yonts said the pistol contained a magazine loaded with 12 rounds and that she collected a .45-caliber shell casing from the parking lot. Texarkana, Ark., Detective Jason Haak testified Monday that two additional magazines, each containing 13 rounds, were taken from Stanton the night of the shooting as well.
Arkansas State Crime Lab analyst Kelsey Ellison testified the shell casing Yonts recovered from the Raceway parking lot was ejected from Stanton's gun. Including the bullet that killed Hamilton, the round in Stanton's gun's chamber and the rounds in the three magazines, Stanton carried 40 rounds of ammunition before the shooting.
Midafternoon Tuesday, Black told Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson that the state's only remaining witness, a medical examiner, was testifying in another Arkansas county and would not be available until Wednesday. Johnson released the jury with instructions to return to the Miller County courthouse this morning.
If found guilty of murder, Stanton faces 10 to 40 years or life in an Arkansas prison. Moreover, prosecutors amended the charge Monday against Stanton to include a firearm enhancement. If the jury finds Stanton guilty of using a firearm during the commission of a felony, he faces up to 15 additional years, which must be served consecutively to any other term.
Stanton is free on a $250,000 bond.