Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009

Trial begins in Coastal Carolina student's killing

The trial for one of three men charged in the 2008 shooting death of a Coastal Carolina University student during a crowded motorcycle rally opened Monday with one co-defendant testifying that he watched Keion M. Griffin shoot Corey Brooks.

Griffin, 19, is charged with murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in the May 25, 2008, fatal shooting. Demario Stukes, 18, is also charged with murder, and his case is pending. The third man, who was charged as a juvenile at the time of the incident and is serving a juvenile sentence, testified Monday.

In testimony, Darius Priest, now 17, said a fight occurred between Stukes and one of Brooks' friends before Griffin shot Brooks.

Priest testified that he brought a .22-caliber pistol to Ocean Boulevard the night Brooks was killed, but said he gave the gun to Stukes. Before the night was over, Griffin ended up with the gun and used it to shoot Brooks, he said.

"I was still on the phone, and I saw Demario and one of the white guys start fighting. ... Keion hit [Brooks] in the back of the head with a pistol, and that's when he kicked him a couple times, and then he shot him," Priest testified. Authorities said Brooks was shot in the back as he lay on the ground.

Priest also testified that the three boys fled in different directions, but when they met up again, Griffin gave him back the gun, which he had taken from his mother's room. He testified that he then got into his mother's car, went home and put the gun back.

The other two boys were stopped by police shortly after, searched and let go. Priest said a few days later, he got the gun and threw it in the trash, where he would later tell police they could find it.

Authorities said Griffin shot Brooks after Brooks tried to intervene in a fight between Stukes and one of Brooks' friends. The fight started after a group of girls tried to park in the front yard of a beach house on Third Avenue North between Flagg and Chester streets. Brooks and several of his friends were staying at the house for Memorial Day. Griffin, Stukes and Priest were talking to the girls when an argument started between the two sets of boys.

During her opening statement Monday afternoon, Assistant Solicitor Donna Elder painted a picture of the evening of the shooting.

"On May 25, 2008, the price of a life in Horry County, the price of Corey Brooks' life in Horry County was a parking space. You have to ask yourself who would value a life so little that they would trade it off for a parking space?" Elder said. "Corey Brooks paid a very big price that night. ... It is time today for Keion Griffin to pay a price. It is time that we make him accountable."

Defense attorney James Galmore told the jury that he planned to raise doubt that Demario Stukes may have been the one to pull the trigger.

"Every time [Elder] said Keion Griffin, she should have said Demario Stukes. This wasn't some co-conspiracy. Demario Stukes had a gun, and Demario Stukes used it," he said. Stukes is expected to testify today.

Galmore raised questions about why Priest waited three days after he originally talked to police to tell them about the gun, and about the deal he was given in exchange for testifying. He also questioned details about how Griffin allegedly got the gun and how it became loaded.

In addition to Priest, several other witnesses testified Monday, including a Myrtle Beach police officer who responded to the shooting, two of Brooks' friends who were present during the argument and a witness who was sitting in a parked car across the street.

Testimony resumes at 9 a.m. today.