An exchange of gunfire took place between 22-year-old Markale Hart and freshman Auburn football player Jakell Mitchell, courtroom testimony revealed.
A preliminary hearing was held for Hart, who is charged with the murder of Mitchell, at the Lee County Justice Center on Jan. 13 to determine if there is enough evidence to bring him before a grand jury.
Lee County Judge Steven T. Speakman determined probable cause existed to bind the case under a charge of murder to a grand jury.
Detective Dustin Holt of the Auburn Police Division was called to the stand by Senior Assistant District Attorney Kisha Abercrombie to layout evidence police had collected during their investigation.
Holt said during a party at the Tiger Lodge apartment complex, Tyrone Rowe, who was at the party with Hart, got into an altercation with Mitchell, when Hart opened fire on Mitchell.
Police recovered various .40 caliber and .45 caliber shell casings from the scene of a shooting.
Holt said Hart fired a .40 caliber handgun that killed Mitchell.
Holt said a .45 caliber Glock handgun was recovered from the crime scene and is being processed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Hart's defense attorney, Jerry Blevins, asked Holt who fired the .45 caliber handgun and after objections from Abercrombie, which Speakman overruled, Holt answered.
"I believe that Mr. Mitchel was in possession of that (.45 caliber) firearm," Holt said.
Holt said witness claimed Hart fired first.
Blevins had Holt read a statement given by Hart when he was arrested Dec. 14, in which Hart said he fired his weapon in self-defense after Mitchell fired his weapon.
The statement from Hart also read that a man named Big D gave him the weapon at the party.
Holt testified that .40 caliber rounds appeared to have been fired from Hart's weapon, and were spread out across a large area, while the .45 caliber shells were localized to a small area.
No video footage of the incident is available, but Hart claims he tried to diffuse the situation by taking Rowe to the parking lot.
No other witnesses were called to the stand.
Blevins called for the charge to be downgraded to manslaughter, claiming there was not enough evidence to support the State's claim of murder.
Abercrombie argued for a murder charge.
"To charge murder, probable cause has to be established and I believe the state has done that," Abercrombie said.
Speakman ruled that the case for self-defense was something to be decided determined by a jury.
In an interview, Blevins stated his concern that only one side of the story has been told and says the APD should have made it known that Mitchell also had a weapon.
"I'm appalled by how law enforcement has tried to manipulate details and hide [information] from the media," Blevins said. "I've never known the Auburn PD to conduct themselves like this."
Capt. Lorenza Dorsey of APD responded to Blevins.
"The Auburn Police Division's only release of information regarding Markale Hart was the announcement of his arrest on December 14, 2014," Dorsey said. "No specifics of Hart's or Mr. Mitchell's actions were released."
Dorsey said all subsequent information the media has published has been the result if information revealed in public hearings and open court proceedings.
"We have handled this case just as we have any other," Dorsey said.
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