MARIETTA, Ga. -- The judge in the trial of a Brunswick man accused of killing a toddler in its stroller dealt defense attorneys some blows Wednesday as they began to present their case.
Prosecutors wrapped up their own case this morning with the testimony of Sherry West, the mother of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. West was also shot in the leg March 21 during what prosecutors call an attempted robbery.
She has identified De'Marquise Elkins, 18, as the shooter. He is being tried in Cobb County because of the amount of news coverage in Glynn County.
Before Elkins' attorneys could resume their cross examination of West, Judge Stephen Kelley ruled on a prosecution motion that had halted testimony Tuesday evening. He blocked the attorneys from questioning West about any alleged drug use, sex for drugs or mistreatment of her older children a decade ago.
Kelley concluded those allegations were not recent enough or similar enough to the baby's death for defense attorneys to bring up as ways to show someone else shot Antonio.
"The reason the court has to have these rules is boundaries," he said.
He also denied defense motions to toss out the individual charges against Elkins and his mother, Karimah Elkins, 36, who is also being tried on charges of providing a false alibi to police on his behalf and evidence tampering.
Kelley also postponed seven defense motions for a mistrial for various reasons.
During West's final moments of cross examination, she repeatedly batted away questions about whether she had changed her story in talking to the police and reporters or that she had misidentified Elkins. To most questions she replied, "I don't recall" and "possibly."
"I just remember identifying him and being sure," she said.
The first defense witness was West's 21-year-old, estranged daughter, Ashley Glassey of Runnemede, N.J., who was released from a New Jersey jail on shoplifting charges long enough to testify.
During tearful testimony, Glassey explained that she never met Antonio and hadn't seen her mother before today except briefly four years ago ever since West lost custody when Glassey was 8. West called her the evening of the murder to give the news of her stepbrother's death.
"She asked me how long I thought it would take to get the life insurance policy, the check to come," Glassey said, explaining that she was familiar with insurance after having recently handled her grandmother's affairs.
That night, Glassey had trouble sleeping because in the retelling over the phone West had changed the order of who was shot first, the mother or the baby. It bothered Glassey enough to call Brunswick police who never returned the call or investigated, according to the testimony.
"Some things she said to me just didn't add up," Glassey said. "I felt like I got blown off (by police)."
West sat ramrod straight in the second row of the audience, wringing her hands, as Glassey told how her mother had memory problems and instructed her not to talk to reporters.
The next defense witness was Linda Knight, a retired speech pathologist who lived across the street from the murder scene in a 150-year-old house with a red metal roof and its original windows. She said she was in the rear of her home when she heard three gunshots and ran to the front door that opens onto London Street.
"I couldn't see anything," she said, explaining that only the stroller handle and West's head were visible behind some shrubs.
"I'm sorry if I said it the wrong way," she apologized to defense attorney Kevin Gough.
She explained that her daughter had been able to see more of the murder scene.
After lunch, the defense is expected present a deposition from a man who rode up on a bicycle shortly after the shooting and used a cell phone Mrs. Knight's daughter had but was too panicked to call 911.
In earlier testimony on Tuesday:
MARIETTA — Sherry West gave a tearful testimony Tuesday in the murder trial of the Brunswick man accused of shooting to death her baby in his stroller.
She said two youths came down Ellis Street as she pushed the stroller on her way back from buying a stamp at the post office March 21.
“The big one approached me and said for me to give him money,” she said. “... I told him I didn’t have any. ... I told him I have a baby and I have expenses. ... He asked me if I wanted him to shoot my baby. I told him not to shoot my baby.”
The courtroom was packed with spectators during the emotional peak of a trial that has gained national attention. Jurors scribbled notes, at least one dabbing her eyes. The defendant’s mother yawned.
De’Marquise Elkins, 18, is being tried in the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago and shooting West in the leg during an attempted robbery. He is also being tried for another botched robbery 11 days earlier.
Elkins is being tried for both crimes in Cobb County Superior Court because of the heavy news coverage in Glynn County.
West told how Elkins fired a warning shot into the ground, then slapped her with the pistol before firing another round at her head as she ducked. Next, she said he shot her leg.
“He walked around and shot my baby,” she said. “I tried to stop him. I put my arms over my baby, but he still shot him.”
Her screams for police drove the youths off, she said, adding that she pushed the stroller inside the gate to her home and tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation until an ambulance arrived. She was whisked to the same hospital as the child.
“I kept asking if he was all right. No one would tell me,” she said.
During a lengthy cross examination, defense attorney Kevin Gough got her to acknowledge a scarred cornea and her need for contact lenses.
“My vision improved,” she said.
He also got her to acknowledge that she suffers from multiple mental illnesses and takes two medications for them that both produce hallucinations and memory loss as side effects.
West originally selected the photo of co-defendant Dominique Lang as the shooter from a stack of pictures officers showed her the day of the shooting. The next day, she identified Elkins from a photo lineup.
Gough challenged her identification.
“Is it possible you may be mistaken in identifying Mr. Elkins?” the defender asked.
“No. Mr. Elkins was standing right in front of me,” she said.
Gough also asked her about a Gerber Life Insurance policy she had on Antonio, the fact that neighbors didn’t see any blacks running away and why she hadn’t asked the child’s father to buy the stamp and avoid a walk in the cold through a crime-ridden neighborhood. He said he was merely following up on questions police raised with her originally.
Earlier Tuesday a parade of prosecution witnesses linked Elkins to a similar incident.
Among the witnesses were the Rev. Wilfredo Calix Flores and Clever Jimenez Gomez who each pointed out Elkins as the man who pulled a gun on March 11 demanding money and a cellphone. They separately testified that Elkins shot Calix Flores in the arm when no wallet or phone was produced.
“That looks like the person who attacked us,” Jimenez Gomez said through an interpreter.
Calix Flores, also speaking through an interpreter, choked up when describing the incident. He stood and pointed where the bullet entered and exited his left arm and grazed his side, and he recounted how he was so shocked afterward that he staggered into the church and knelt down to pray until police and an ambulance arrived.
Prosecutors displayed a photo of blood drops on the doorway where he prayed while Jimenez Gomez used his own belt as a tourniquet.
The jury also heard from one of the two teens allegedly with Elkins during Calix Flores’ shooting, Dont’e Jackson, 17. Jackson, who is charged in the incident but said he has no deal with prosecutors, testified that he and a friend were walking down the alley where Calix Flores and Jimenez Gomez were modifying a fence gate and were ahead of Elkins when they heard a ruckus behind them.
“The next thing I know, De’Marquise is saying, ‘Give it up,’” Jackson said. “... When the man wouldn’t give him any money, he shot the man.”
All three witnesses identified a photo of the .22 caliber revolver police believe Elkins used to shoot Antonio Santiago 11 days later.
Defense attorney Ashley Wood tried to weaken each witness’ credibility.
During cross examination of Jimenez Gomez, she asked if he was threatened by police with deportation as an illegal immigrant, but he said they never mentioned it.
“You’re going to say anything the police want you to say so you can stay in the country,” she charged.
She said investigators had pressured him.
“No. No one pressured me,” he said. “... I don’t know if that’s what they wanted to hear or not. I just told them the way it was.”
Wood challenged Jackson because he had originally told investigators he wasn’t involved in Calix Flores’ shooting. Jackson acknowledged repeatedly on the stand that he had lied to detectives on two occasions before his own arrest.
“I was lying the first two times because my life was in danger,” he said as his attorney stood nearby. “... He threatened me. I just saw him shoot somebody.”
Jackson explained that after the shooting, Elkins threatened him if word of the incident was mentioned. However, being arrested and given the chance to live with his grandfather instead of returning to the neighborhood where he grew up with Elkins gave him the assurance of his safety, Jackson said.
Defense attorneys say they are ready to begin presenting their first witnesses today.
Both sides and the judge agree that they don’t want to ruin jurors’ plans for the holiday weekend and are trying to wrap up the case beforehand with long court sessions.