Prosecutors revealed more information on the case while defense attorneys urged jurors not to question the story
TRENTON - A highway chase that ended with a fatal shooting and two car crashes nearly five years ago, was described by Mercer County prosecutors Tuesday as, "nothing short of mayhem."
Andre Romero is accused of helping shoot Daquan Dowling to death in 2012 on Route 29 Addressing a courtroom of jurors at the opening of a murder trial Tuesday, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Bill Haumann detailed the events surrounding a shooting that left DaQuan Dowling, 23, of Trenton, dead at the wheel of his car on Route 29 in January of 2012.
William Mitchell and Andre Romero, two Trenton men who are on trial for the killing, listened silently as Haumann gave a detailed blow-by-blow account of the case, revealing new evidence and discussing potential witnesses.
The chain of events started one day in January of 2012 when Romero, Mitchell and their two friends, Anthony Marks and Jamar Square, were sitting in a stolen Sebring outside of a liquor store on the corner of Cass and Lamberton streets, prosecutors said. Mitchell saw a white Ford Taurus drive past and immediately told Marks to follow the car, which Dowling was driving, prosecutors said.
The four men followed Dowling onto Route 29 until the right side of the Sebring was parallel with the Ford Taurus, prosecutors said. Mitchell was sitting in the front passenger's side of the Sebring and Romero was in the back; as soon as they pulled up next to the car Dowling was driving, the two men started firing a barrage of bullets at the Taurus, Haumann said. Prosecutors did not say whether the men were aiming for Dowling.
Dowling was hit and died while driving, forcing his passenger, Morris Satchel to take control of the steering wheel, police have said. The car slammed into a barrier but Satchel survived the crash.
Jury selection begins in trial for drive-by highway shooting
The car Mitchell and Romero were riding in also lost control, spinning in the road before coming to face oncoming traffic, prosecutors said. The four men - including Mitchell and Romero - bailed out of the car and took off running, leaving the vehicle in drive. With no one inside, the Sebring careened into oncoming traffic before hitting another vehicle head on and finally coming to a stop, Haumann said.
But Mitchell and Romero weren't about to surrender - all four men fled the area, dropping a cell phone, two handguns and a hat with built in dreadlocks along the way, prosecutors said. They weren't identified for months - Mitchell was charged with murder in June of 2012 and Romero was charged the following March.
After going over the details of the case, prosecutors discussed one witness who planned to take the stand.
"You'll hear testimony from inside the car itself," Haumann said. He added that the witness had a criminal record and "had something to gain" by testifying, but that jurors should take him at his word.
Defense attorney Chris Campbell, Mitchell's attorney, disagreed, cautioning jurors about the witness and urging them to question the series of events that Haumann had described.
"You need to take witness credibility into account," he added.
Patrick O'Hara, a defense attorney representing Romero, echoed Campbell's words but used his opening statement to hit back at prosecutors' claims. He called prosecutors' evidence - which relies heavily on witness testimony, photographs and videos - "dog food," and said that no matter how they present the evidence, it will still be the equivalent of, "dog food."
"Just because they say it's so doesn't make it so," he repeated.
The trial is expected to continue on Wednesday.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman