Ronald Cosper, who is standing trial for murder, denied shortly after the killing of Steve Mosley that he was the gunman.
In an interview played Wednesday afternoon to a jury in the courtroom of Judge Barry Steelman, he first said he did not know Mosley. Later, he admitted having gone to his house in Avondale to buy marijuana.
But he said he was not there on the afternoon Mosley was shot and killed near his front door in early July 2012.
Cosper first said he had been with friends that day and had gone to Hixson, then back to the friend's house.
He said he only knew Devante Kearell "White Chalk" Stoudemire through having gone to school with him and seeing news reports about his arrest on other charges. He denied he was with him at the time of the slaying.
Cosper also first said he was not with a "white boy with a long ponytail" that day, but later admitted he had been with Dustin Hayes.
Stoudemire and Hayes were charged with the Mosley murder, but they are not currently on trial.
Detectives told Cosper that his fingerprint was on the screen door at the home of Mosley and that Stoudemire and Hayes had given statements about being with him at the time of the Mosley slaying.
Cheryl Billups, who lived near Mosley, testified of seeing a white car pull up driven by a "white boy with a long ponytail." She said two black males got out. She said one of them was Stoudemire, who she knew and talked to that day.
Medical Examiner Dr. James Metcalfe said Mobley was shot three times - in the chest, abdomen and arm.