PANAMA CITY — Jurors were selected Monday in a murder trial in a case stemming from a stolen bicycle, according to prosecutors.
During the first day in the second-degree murder trial of 33-year-old Stephen Trusty, two men testified to seeing Trusty fire the shots near Roosevelt Drive in Panama City that would end the life of 38-year-old Leonard Price on May 28. In the wake of the shooting, however, police arrested the wrong man based on those accounts — a point Trusty’s attorney said discredited the witness’ statements.
Tanya Baker said when he pointed out Price on the stolen bike at about 12:30 a.m. that he thought Trusty had pulled a handgun as a “scare tactic,” he told jurors Monday. But when the revolver fired once as Trusty allegedly pistol-whipped Price, he realized the confrontation had escalated.
“That’s when it changed,” Baker said. “He stood over the man, fired the rest of the rounds into him and that was it. (Price) was rolling around on the ground — bleeding — hollering like he wished this was just a bad dream for him, too.”
Price had earlier approached Baker in an attempt to sell a bike he knew belonged to Trusty. Price was a known drug-user and regularly stole items in the neighborhood, Baker said, so he called Trusty.
“I thought ‘dang, this man trying to sell another man’s bike,’ ” he said. “So I thought I’d tell him.”
Trusty then met up with Baker and allegedly asked Baker to point Price out. Trusty crouched behind one the homes between Carver and Roosevelt drives and told Baker to wave Price over, Baker said.
Sawson Owens said he watched as Price walked over toward where Trusty allegedly waited. Trusty then sprang out, pulled a gun and beat Price to the ground before he straddled Price and fired the remaining rounds in the revolver, Owens said.
Price “just kept screaming for help,” Owens said.
Despite Price’s cries for help, neither of the men called police; and Owens was initially a suspect in the shooting after police found him with a firearm in his possession. Trusty’s attorneys highlighted the actions of the two witnesses after the shooting in an attempt to discredit their testimonies.
Baker waited about a week after the shooting to tell authorities he witnessed a killing because he was “pretty high at the time,” he said in court. And Owens denied seeing anything on two occasions when questioned by police. He also identified the wrong man from a photo line-up once he decided to cooperate, which was after officers offered him immunity from jail on the firearm charge he faced.
“That’s what the state wants you to accept as evidence,” defense attorney Jean Downing told jurors.
However, Owens said he recognized his mistake once he saw the man he’d wrongly identified at the jail in person. The charges were dropped, and Trusty was charged with second-degree murder. During Monday’s testimony, Owens said he was positive Trusty was the man he’d seen fire the fatal shots.
Trusty faces additional charges in the trial.
A separate charge of tampering with a witness was filed against Trusty in June. He was charged with allegedly threatening a family member of Owens. Trusty allegedly told the witness he would beat the murder charges — and anyone who cooperated with law enforcement, according to court documents.