The mother a 13-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet last summer took the stand on Tuesday and testified in the trial of the man accused of firing the fatal shot. The slaying of Shenice Holmes on Mother's Day weekend 2006 in her mother's Northside apartment was one of a series of crimes that galvanized the community against a wave of gun violence.
In late August, police arrested Willie Tucker III. He was later indicted on a charge of second-degree murder.
Shenice' mother, Tina Williams, had an emotional day in court as the Tucker's trail began.
Williams was the first of about a dozen witnesses who took the stand on Tuesday afternoon. She told the jury about the afternoon her daughter was killed.
"I heard some shots. They sounded like they were far away. So, I yelled loud enough for her to hear me because my son was in the room already. I said, 'Get down.' I didn't know what else to say," Williams testified.
She said she then saw Shenice crawling into her bedroom and it didn't take long to see something was wrong.
"I didn't hear her saying anything, like she was scared or anything. I said, 'Are you OK?' By then she was crawling toward me and said, 'No. I've been hit.' In my mind I'm thinking, 'What does she mean? She's been hit?' That was TV talk. I guess at the same time she was reaching for me, and I saw a hole in her elbow and blood on her shirt," Williams said.
Prosecutors told the jury that the bullet that killed Shenice was fired by Tucker.
In opening statements, both the prosecutor and the defense agree the shooting that took Holmes' life was the result of a gang war in the neighborhood around the Hartwood Apartments, but they strongly disagreed on who was responsible.
"She was killed by a bullet fired from a gun held -- a rifle, an assault rifle, an SK -- held by that man right there (pointing to Tucker)," Assistant State Attorney Bernie De La Rionda said.
"It's just amazing how we can be sitting here in a courtroom on Nov. 6, 2007, hearing about this terrible tragedy and then you go back and you say 'Where did all of this start. How could things have progressed to this point?'" defense attorney Mark Rosenblum said. "As far as we know it actually started with a fist fight."
Rosenblum said Tucker was given the gun to protect him and is claiming he fired in self-defense.
Because Tucker did not target Holmes, he is being tried on a charge of second-degree murder.
In addition to the second-degree murder charge for which Tucker could face life in prison if convicted, Tucker also faces three counts of attempted second-degree murder for firing at the men he missed the night Shenice was shot.
Two of the people who were with Tucker on the night of the shooting are expected to take the witness stand on Wednesday.
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