In the ongoing trial of Stephen Lester, the state presented phone and Facebook records today as evidence that allegedly connects the 27-year-old defendant to the murder of Edward Glenn Jr. on Jan. 10, 2013.
Lester, who has pled not guilty to first-degree murder, denied any connection to a certain phone number which the prosecution claims was used by Lester prior to the murder.
Records showed several incoming messages to that phone number specifically referring to the owner of that phone as the defendant, using his given name as well as multiple nicknames including “B Dogg” and “Thee Thee.”
These texts included a message from his mother’s phone which said, “Hey Stephen how are you son.”
Facebook messaging history also allegedly shows the defendant giving out that number on multiple occasions as a means by which friends and family could reach him.
Prosecutors called homicide investigator Lucas Fuller to the stand to tell of several texting conversations pulled from those records.
These included one between the defendant and Carmisha Lay, a woman who has pled to second-degree murder for her role in Edward Glenn’s murder.
Prosecutors say that the defendant worked with Lay and another man, Eric McReynolds, to set up the victim for a robbery by having Lay lure him to her home with the promise of sex and then texting the defendant and McReynolds when it was time.The first officer on the scene said the shooting victim was naked from the waist down.
When they arrived, the defendant allegedly told the other man to “Shoot him, shoot him again.”
The prosecution said that the phone records show that the number belonging to the defendant was in direct communication with Lay just before the murder.
Those records showed a conversation between the two numbers in which Lay allegedly said, “Not yet let him get twaked im up. Now u on yo way wait he just got hre wnt to make it look good.”
Lester’s alleged number responded to say, “We on deck me n donkie,” which Lay responded to by saying, “Hello dnt wnt it to look like a set up txt bak !4 I get ba n the room wid him damn.”
Finally, prosecutors assert that Lester texted, “Just tex when u ready we here b,” before entering.
After that at four o’clock in the morning when the murder took place, there are no more outgoing messages from that phone number.
Additionally, the court heard closed testimony from Ms. Lay stating that the defendant is a ranked Blood member who outranked the man he came with to rob the victim. The prosecution says that is relevant because the gang connection with the suspect and Ms. Lay is a common identifying thread.
It is also the reason he was supposedly able to command the other man to shoot the victim.
However, Lester’s defense asserted that Lay’s testimony has changed significantly on multiple occasions since she has at different times said that she did not know if the defendant was a ranked gang member but then gave a very specific account of his rank at other times.
Defense has also stated that Ms. Lay had a good deal to gain from pleading, essentially throwing the defendant under the bus in order to cut a better plea deal for herself.
In a plea agreement on Monday, Ms. Lay was given 15 years for second-degree murder instead of facing life in prison for the first-degree murder with which she was originally charged.