Marquita Swanson
The neighbor of a man gunned down at his home on N. Hawthorne Street in July 2012 tearfully testified on Tuesday about seeing him die in front of her in her living room.
Marquita Swanson said 39-year-old Steve Mosley asked her to call his brother, then he began crying and dropped to the floor with a bullet wound to the chest.
Ronald Cosper, who was 18 at the time, is standing trial for murder. Police claim he fired three shots during a struggle with the older man, who had a record involving drugs.
Devante Kearell "White Chalk" Stoudemire, 20, and Dustin Hayes, 18, were also charged. Stoudemire, of 4610 Sunflower Lane, was out on bond at the time for another murder - the slaying of JerMichael Richardson.
Police said the trio was after money and marijuana.
Cosper was also charged with aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, and especially aggravated robbery.
A witness described in detail seeing a white four-door Buick pull up to an abandoned lot on Sheridan Avenue. It was driven by a white male in a ponytail. A black male exited the vehicle and walked through an alley toward N. Hawthorne. The black male was wearing a torquoise shirt and had a low haircut. The witness then heard multiple gunshots and saw the same black male return to the Buick, which went north on Sheridan. The witness saw Stoudemire get into the Buick at the corner of Sheridan and Wilson Street.
Police said Cosper's fingerprints were found inside the duplex.
Police at the time said Stoudemire was a validated member of the Gangster Disciples and Cosper was a validated member of the 52 Hoover Crips. Hayes was described as a self-proclaimed Mafioso gang member.
Ms. Swanson said Mosely lived on the other side of her duplex. She said it had been his parents' home.
She said, "He was a great neighbor. He didn't bother nobody." She said he didn't work and would "smoke a little weed. He had a sweet tooth" who liked candy as well as cigars. She acknowledged buying a blunt of marijuana from him for $5, but would not acknowledge that he was a drug dealer.
She said she was keeping several small children when she heard a "boom and bam" around 3 p.m. She said the noise "was getting louder and louder."
The witness said she went outside and looked toward Mosley's unit. She said she saw him locked in a tussle with another man who was wielding a gun. She said he had lighter skin than Mosley or herself.
She said she quickly turned to go back into her duplex "and take care of my babies."