HUNTINGTON -- The man charged in the death of a former Marshall University football player says he acted in self-defense, but that wasn't enough to stop his case from moving to a grand jury for possible indictment.
Jerel Addison Garner, 26, of Charleston, is charged with killing Donte D. Newsome. The July 5 shooting happened outside the nightclub Fluid in the 600 block of 4th Avenue. Witnesses say a dispute inside the nightclub led to gunfire outside. Also wounded were Garner and Newsome's friend, Curtis Keyes.
Witnesses testified Monday at a probable cause hearing in Cabell County Magistrate Court in front of Magistrate Amber Hanna.
Huntington Police Det. Chris Sperry, who interviewed Garner at St. Mary's Medical Center after the shooting, testified that Garner claimed self-defense and led police to the weapon.
Keyes was among the last to leave the club around 3 a.m. July 5. He testified he sensed trouble when he walked outside, but he does not believe it involved Newsome. Keyes recalled approaching Garner's vehicle, opening the door and inquiring. Gunfire followed. Keyes said he took cover and saw Newsome go down.
Witnesses differed on how Keyes approached Garner. Keyes testified he knocked on the vehicle, while others testified he violently banged.
The defense used Keyes' actions to further its self-defense argument. Garner's girlfriend, Robyn Christie, testified that Keyes frightened her, and she credited her boyfriend with saving her life. The couple has one child.
Cabell County Prosecutor Chris Chiles challenged Christie's theory by suggesting she was fearful of Keyes, not Newsome. She said she never recalled seeing the deceased.
"How did that save your life?" Chiles asked. "By him killing an unarmed man, and then walking over and putting another round into him when he is down on the ground?"
"All I know is, if he wouldn't have done what he did, if he would have just drove off, who's to say they wouldn't have shot through the window?" she replied.
Investigators believe a man named Ivan Clark wounded Garner, according to Monday's testimony and arguments. Clark was called to testify Monday, but he had informed attorneys he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions.
No charges have been filed against Clark. Chiles said it was not appropriate for him to comment on a pending investigation. It's the same story with the case concerning Keyes' injuries.
"That's not my focus," Keyes told Garner's attorney. "He killed my friend. That's where I'm focusing."
The prosecution tried to poke holes in the self-defense theory by exposing a disagreement between Garner and his girlfriend. Garner told police he never left the vehicle, but Christie told a different story, Sperry testified.
Christie's version concurred with that of another witness, Zack Priddy. Priddy testified to hearing gunshots and then seeing someone fire a final shot into the wounded victim.
Sperry said Priddy's testimony was consistent with the investigation.
The details vary thereafter. Keyes testified the in-club argument did not involve himself or Newsome. He said neither of them knew Garner.
Ray Berry, an investigator for the defense, told the court a bartender said that Newsome left the club unsually early, but left his credit card to pay the tab. The bartender walked the card across the street to Newsome's normal post-closing-time spot. They talked for a minute, but she said Newsome was distracted, according to the investigator.
"She said, 'What are you looking at?'" Berry testified. "She said he looked back at her and said 'I was having a problem with somebody in the club,' and she said 'Here's your card. You guys just go ahead and get in the car and leave.'"
Garner is being held without bond at the Western Regional Jail.
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