PANAMA CITY — The accused gunman in a nightclub slaying will continue toward trial despite mounting witness testimonies that he admitted to shooting a 19-year-old while fleeing the scene, according to court records.
The most recent testimony in the prosecution’s case against 25-year-old Khiry Ross was from another passenger of the car in which he fled after the shooting death of 19-year-old Jshun Smith outside a former Panama City nightclub, according to police and court records. Police said the shooting transpired over a mutual female interest between the two men.
Ross now faces charges several charges related to the shooting, including second-degree murder as his jury trial approaches in July.
Calvin Jackson, 28, was among two other people in the car that sped Ross away from the scene after bystanders cowered from the gunshots and Smith lay dead in the road June 9, 2014, near KJ’s Nightclub, 908 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Jackson said he, Ross and 26-year-old Marcus Mathis had been riding, drinking and popping prescription Xanax pills all day before deciding to go to the club that night. In preparation of a confrontation, Ross picked up his 9 mm handgun, Jackson said.
“He was like, ‘Man, anything going on tonight? Well, you know I got my protection or whatever, whatever,’ ” Jackson quotes Ross as saying, according to court documents.
Smith was shot in the head at about 3:20 a.m. outside of KJ’s while hanging out in the passenger side of an SUV being driven by Tavish Green, whose body was found several weeks later decomposing in the trunk of a car. PCPD arrived to find Smith in the road as Green fled the scene, according to police reports.
Jackson grew up with Green and did not know him or Smith to have any beef with Ross. A previous police interview with the girl of mutual interest indicated an argument began inside the club and spilled outside to the parking lot. The shooting erupted in the heat of the moment, she said.
Jackson was also in an argument over a girl when gunfire broke out in the parking lot and he turned to see Ross firing upon the SUV, he told investigators. As the crowd scattered in fear, Ross, Mathis, himself and another woman fled in Mathis’ car.
“Khiry was like, ‘Man, I hit them, man,’ ” Jackson said. “ ‘I think I killed them. I think I killed them.’ ”
Ross has told investigators he fired shots in the air before the gunfire broke out from both sides. Jackson also claimed that, despite being inebriated from the alcohol and pills, he heard more than one pistol roaring in the affray. And the other gunfire wasn’t coming from their side, he said.
Authorities have not released any information to support the claim.
According to multiple witness accounts, Ross expressed a plan to pursue a self-defense case before throwing the pistol in a Callaway pond. The gun was never recovered.
Jackson was not charged in connection with the shooting, and the prosecution abandoned the accessory to murder charges against Mathis. Ross remains in custody and charged with second-degree murder with a firearm, felon in possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm in public.
A trial date has been set for July 6.