2 hours ago
1
'Everybody got up except for him': Galleria mall murder victim's mom is final trial witness
BRITTANY AND GAI. EMMA. THANK YOU. BOTH SIDES HAVE RESTED IN A FATAL GALLERIA MALL SHOOTING TRIAL. DEMETRIUS JACKSON, THE LAST OF THREE SUSPECTS IN THE DEATH OF EIGHT YEAR OLD ROVETTI GILES. WVTM 13 S JON PAEPCKE WAS IN THE COURTROOM FOR US. HE’S LIVE IN LOCAL IN BIRMINGHAM. WHAT WAS THE MOST COMPELLING TESTIMONY YOU HEARD TODAY, JOHN? WELL, GUY, THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE THE THE TESTIMONY OF JESSALYN LAYFIELD, DESCRIBING THE MOMENT SHE SAW HER SON DIE AT HER FEET. YOU MENTIONED DEMETRIUS JACKSON IS ON TRIAL FOR THE DEATH OF ROVETTI GILES, A RISING FOURTH GRADER AT BESSEMER JONESBORO ELEMENTARY HIGH SCHOOL. NOW, GILES WAS KILLED WHILE HIS FAMILY WAITED TO GO INTO THE CHILDREN’S PLAY STORE ON THE SECOND FLOOR OF THE GALLERIA TO BUY 4TH OF JULY SHOES FOR HIS SISTERS BACK IN 2020. PROSECUTORS CLAIM THAT SUSPECT MONTEZ COLEMAN FIRED AN AR PISTOL THROUGH A BACKPACK AT JACKSON AND FRIEND KING, WILLIAMS, JACKSON AND WILLIAMS RETURNED FIRE. FORENSIC EVIDENCE SHOWS GILES WAS KILLED BY A NINE MILLIMETER BULLET, BUT JACKSON’S ATTORNEYS ARGUE HIS CLIENT FIRED A 40 CALIBER GUN. THE FINAL WITNESS OF THE DAY, THOUGH, WAS GILES MOTHER, JESSALYN LAYFIELD. PROSECUTOR SEAN ALLEN ASKED, WHAT DID YOU DO WHEN THE GUNFIRE STOPPED? LAYFIELD ANSWERED, GOT UP TO CHECK ON EVERYBODY. PROSECUTOR FOLLOWED WITH, WHAT DID YOU FIND? IN A SHAKY VOICE FULL OF TEARS. LAYFIELD REPLIED, EVERYBODY GOT UP EXCEPT HIM. NOW KING, WILLIAMS AND MONTEZ COLEMAN BOTH PLED GUILTY TO RECKLESS MURDER IN THIS CASE LAST YEAR AND ARE SERVING PRISON SENTENCES AS WE SPEAK. LIKE YOU MENTIONED, BOTH THE PROSECUTION AND THE DEFENSE RESTED THEIR CASE AFTER THAT TESTIMONY FROM GILES MOTHER. THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN THIS TRIAL BEGIN FIRST THING IN THE
'Everybody got up except for him': Galleria mall murder victim's mom is final trial witness
The capital trial against the last suspect charged in a fatal Riverchase Galleria mall shooting is winding down.Thursday afternoon, the prosecution and defense rested in the case against Demetrius Jackson.He is charged in the death 8-year-old Royta Giles on July 3, 2020.The rising 4th grader at Bessemer's Jonesboro Elementary School was killed on the second floor of the mall.Thursday, a firearm expert showed the jury an AR pistol fired by co-defendant Montez Coleman.Prosecutors argued that Jackson and a man name King Williams returned fire when Giles died.However, forensic evidence shows that Giles was killed by a 9mm round and Jackson’s attorney has argued his client fired a .40 caliber gun. A former Hoover Police evidence technician told the jury they could not identify any of the fingerprints found on the shell casings recovered from the scene. The Jefferson County Medical Examiner testified that Giles was killed by a single gunshot to the head.Giles’ mother Jesslyn Layfield was the final witness of the trial. Prosecutor Shawn Allen asked Layfield what she saw when her son did not get up."I just seen blood on his face and a lot of blood coming from the back of his head," Layfield said.Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases by Thursday afternoon.Closing arguments in the capital murder case begin on Friday morning. Coleman and Williams both pleaded guilty to the lesser charged of reckless murder last year and are currently serving prison sentences.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —
The capital trial against the last suspect charged in a fatal Riverchase Galleria mall shooting is winding down.
Thursday afternoon, the prosecution and defense rested in the case against Demetrius Jackson.
He is charged in the death 8-year-old Royta Giles on July 3, 2020.
The rising 4th grader at Bessemer's Jonesboro Elementary School was killed on the second floor of the mall.
Thursday, a firearm expert showed the jury an AR pistol fired by co-defendant Montez Coleman.
Prosecutors argued that Jackson and a man name King Williams returned fire when Giles died.
However, forensic evidence shows that Giles was killed by a 9mm round and Jackson’s attorney has argued his client fired a .40 caliber gun.
A former Hoover Police evidence technician told the jury they could not identify any of the fingerprints found on the shell casings recovered from the scene.
The Jefferson County Medical Examiner testified that Giles was killed by a single gunshot to the head.
Giles’ mother Jesslyn Layfield was the final witness of the trial.
Prosecutor Shawn Allen asked Layfield what she saw when her son did not get up.
"I just seen blood on his face and a lot of blood coming from the back of his head," Layfield said.
Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases by Thursday afternoon.
Closing arguments in the capital murder case begin on Friday morning.
Coleman and Williams both pleaded guilty to the lesser charged of reckless murder last year and are currently serving prison sentences.
English (US)