The three teens closest to the shooting that ended Jordan Davis’ life took the stand on the second day of testimony in the Michael Dunn trial.
Tevin Thompson, Leland Brunson, and Tommie Stornes, who were in a Dodge Durango with Davis the night he was killed, were among the nine witnesses who testified Friday.
Dunn, a 47-year-old Brevard County man, is accused of fatally shooting Davis after an argument over loud music Nov. 23, 2012.
Friday, Thompson was the first to share his version of events with the jury. He told Assistant State Attorney John Guy, the teens headed out that night to St. Johns Town Center and Avenues Mall in Southside to check out girls. They’d stopped at the Gate gas station at Southside Boulevard and Baymeadows Road to get gum and cigarettes.
Thompson said while at the gas station, they played rap music and it was “pretty loud.”
At one point, a black sedan pulled up beside them and a white female exited and walked into the store, he said. Shortly after, a man Thompson later identified as Dunn told the group: “Turn your music down. I can’t think straight.”
Thompson said he proceeded to turn the music down, but Davis told him to “F--- that. Turn it up.”
In the moments leading up to the shooting, Thompson said he saw Dunn pull out a gun and ask Davis, “Are you talking to me?” before firing several shots at Davis’ door.
Tommie Stornes, who was driving the vehicle backed up and sped off to a nearby shopping plaza and then, shortly after returned to the gas station, at which point Thompson dialed 911.
Thompson said as they sped away, he felt "scared" and Davis was “grasping for air.”
In a rapid-fire series of questions that followed, Dunn’s defense Cory Strolla asked Thompson why he’d waited until returning to the gas station to call 911. He also questioned why the teens decided to return to the gas station again, instead of getting Davis help after driving to the nearby plaza. Thompson said they believed there were more people at the gas station that could help them.
Later on in the day, jurors heard from the teen who reportedly held Davis during the last moments of his life. Leland Brunson took the stand, stating that he, too, heard Dunn ask Davis “Are you talking to me?” and witnessed him pull a gun out of his glove compartment before firing at them.
In his cross-examination of Brunson, Dunn’s attorney Strolla sought to establish his client’s demeanor when he asked the boys to lower the volume.
“So he didn’t demand it. He asked a question...Mr. Davis was the one who was yelling and cursing at him?” Strolla asked.
To which, Brunson responded “Yes.”
Jurors also heard from Stornes, who drove the vehicle that night. Stornes was on probation the night of the shooting with a 7 p.m. curfew--a point noted and questioned by the defense.
Among other witnesses for the day were several members of law enforcement and brother and sister Alyssa and Chris LeBlanc who were at the scene at the time of the shooting.
The trial will continue Saturday.
The jurors told Judge Russell Healey that they were willing to return on Sunday, but Healey declined their offer saying the attorneys had been working very hard and needed the day to review and regroup.
You can follow Rhema Thompson on Twitter @RhemaThompson.
