A detective talked about blood left in the car and on a passenger's sweatshirt after a fatal shooting almost five years ago.
TRENTON -- Almost immediately after gunfire riddled the car he was driving on Route 29 nearly five years ago, Daquan Dowling crumpled over the console and passenger Morris Satchel had to take the wheel.
Andre Romero is accused of helping shoot Daquan Dowling to death in 2012 on Route 29What happened at the wheel was just one of the details then Trenton Police Detective Sgt. Christopher Doyle told a jury Wednesday, describing the aftermath of the shooting that left 23-year-old Dowling dead in Trenton in 2012.
Doyle was one of a handful of detectives and investigators who took the stand this week during the trial of William Mitchell and Andre Romero, the men accused of fatally shooting Dowling.
During his testimony Wednesday, Doyle, a homicide detective at the time of the shooting, referenced pictures held up by Mercer County prosecutors in court.
In one, which showed the inside of the car Dowling was driving, Doyle pointed to a spot of red on the center console and identified it as blood. He also held up a sweatshirt that Satchel was wearing the night of the killing, pointing to a large dark spot on the sleeve and saying he believed it was blood from the shooting.
Prosecutors detail 'mayhem' of drive-by
The trial, which started with jury selection last month and had opening statements last week, comes nearly five years after the incident in January of 2012.
Prosecutors have said the two men - Mitchell and Romero - were riding in a car driven by Anthony Marks with Jamar Square as another passenger when they started following a Ford Taurus driven by Dowling.
As the two cars got onto Route 29, the car driven by Marks pulled up alongside the Ford Taurus and Mitchel and Romero started firing shots at the car Dowling was driving, according to authorities.
Dowling was killed almost instantly and Satchel had to block himself from bullets as he grabbed the wheel of the Ford Taurus and tried to direct the car, which slammed into a barrier, prosecutors have said. Satchel survived the crash.
The car driven by Marks also spun out of control and ended up facing oncoming traffic, still in drive, as the four men bailed out, prosecutors said. The car continued going forward before crashing into another vehicle.
All four men fled the scene and evaded police until they were captured months later.
Though Satchel survived the initial crash, he died later that year in a dirtbike accident, Trenton police have said.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Wednesday next week.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman