Surveillance footage from the University Heights shooting was shown to jurors on Monday, Sept. 29, in the Desmonte Leonard murder trial.
Jurors viewed footage from the night of June 9, 2012 of a group of party goers scatter and run apparently due to gunshots being fired at them. The video was the same one showed at a preliminary hearing on July 11, 2012, and showed Eric Mack and John Robertson fall to the ground then help each other up and walk out of view. However, the video did not show the shooter.
Andrew Belter, a leasing agent at the complex formerly known as University Heights, now called Tiger Lodge, was called by the prosecution to walk jurors through each of the 10 cameras and the view they showed.
Belter also testified he was a resident of the complex at the time and heard the shots.
Both Robertson and Mack survived the shooting, but Robertson was shot in the head and faced life threatening injuries, according to testimony from Dr. Allen Moore who was working at the East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC) emergency room on the night of the shooting.
Robertson underwent brain surgery to remove the bullet from the right side of his head near his temple, according to testimony from Dr. Robert Brunner who specializes in traumatic brain injury with the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Leonard is charged with the capital murder of former Auburn football Players Ladarious Phillips, Ed Christian and DeMario Pitts of Opelika.
Leonard is also charged with attempted murder and assault.
Defense attorneys for Leonard are claiming the shooting was in self-defense citing the Alabama stand your ground law.
"I think it defies logic to think that out of the hundred plus people out there, that there was only one gun in that crowd," defense attorney Susan James said.
Kenneth Johnson, an EMT working with the EAMC at the time of the incident, said he helped Ladarious Phillips when he arrived at University Heights.
Johnson said Phillips was under a walkway and had difficulty breathing because of his injuries. He became combative in the ambulance and required hand restraints. Phillips' breathing and vital signs flat lined before he arrived at the hospital, according to Johnson.
Levi Richardson, an advanced EMT with the EAMC, was directed to work on DeMario Pitts when he arrived at University Heights. Pitts had a gunshot wound on his left abdomen, but was seated and responsive when Richardson arrived.
Pitts' condition deteriorated on the ambulance ride to the hospital and became unresponsive on the way, according to Richardson.
Bill Harris, Lee County coroner, was notified of three victims before he arrived at University Heights on the night of the incident. Two of them, Phillips and Pitts, were at the hospital.
The third victim, Ed Christian, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the crime. He was originally found lying face down, but was turned over before Harris arrived.
Robert Sewell, a detective for the Auburn Police Department from 2008-2012, was also brought to the witness stand.
Sewell arrived at the scene shortly after the patrol officers and helped collect evidence. One piece of evidence was a bullet found in the wall.
Sewell was also responsible for access to the evidence room, and verified a Glock 22 .40 caliber pistol and a broken Seagram's Gin 1.75 liter glass bottle as evidence collected for this case.
James acknowledged the value of the glass bottle, but questioned whether it was the bottle actually used in the fight before the shooting.
"We don't know at this point who had the bottle," James said. "But I think that it is evidence of what was going on out there when this incident occurred."
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