Three shooting survivors testify in triple-murder trial
Published 8:55 am Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Video, 911 calls and testimony seen and heard in state district court Monday painted a violent scene at McMillan Park on March 20, 2013.
Two gunmen robbing a dice game opened fire, killing three men as they attempted to flee, witnesses said.
Three men who survived the shooting said Armonta Dquon Hadnot was one of the gunmen, but the other has not been identified.
Trending
Hadnot, 19, is standing trial on three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Jeminskian J. Arvie, 20, David Jermaine Galmore, 23, and Fitzgerald Tremayne Guillory, 20. He is also on trial for three counts of attempted first-degree murder.
The three survivors said the six were shooting dice on the north walkway of McMillan Park, which abuts Sunlight Manor apartments. A burgundy Ford compact car passed on Evans Street, which is on the south side of the park, and two men approached, demanding their money. They gave them the money, but when they attempted to flee, the robbers fired.
Galmore died where he fell, while Arvie and Guillory died attempting to flee. “It was a horrible scene to see,” Jasmine LeDoux, the fiancee of Arvie’s brother, said.
About 50 people were at the park when he arrived, Lake Charles police officer Timothy Duplechain said. People were “upset and there was a lot of crying,” he said.
Eleven 911 calls were played in court. The first few callers were in hysterics and nearly unintelligible as they reported the shooting.
A surveillance video showed some of the dice game in the top left side of the screen. Two men approached the game; shortly afterward people raced away.
Trending
Henry James Chretien, who was shot in the left arm, said he, Galmore, Donnie Bellard, “Fitz” (Fitzgerald), “Pig” (Arvie) and “Pork Chop” (Devon Sylvester) were shooting dice at about 10:30 p.m. when the two men approached.
A red Ford drove by; Bellard said it was a red Ford Focus, while Chretien called it a “red or maroon Escort.”
“I lose my dice, so I’m counting my money,” said Sylvester, who was transported from Houston, where he is jailed on a burglary charge. “I turn around and see Armonta Hadnot with guns in our faces.”
“They ran up on us,” said Chretien, who also goes by “Bumper.” The robbers told the men to “empty your pockets.”
Everyone was cooperating, Sylvester said.
“It wasn’t a lot of money,” Chretien said. Bellard said he gave the men $12.
As the gunmen began collecting the money, Sylvester began running, he said, and the men started firing. Sylvester ran through Sunlight Manor, returning to see “Fitz” dead on the ground.
Chretien said he was lying face down when the first shot rang out. “They had us all down, then the shooting started,” Chretien said.
Galmore was sitting on the ground when he was shot in the head, Bellard said.
After Galmore was shot, Chretien was hit next, Chretien said. He laid next to Galmore, who was hit in the head, until an ambulance arrived.
“Fitz” died in Bellard’s arms, Bellard tearfully testified. He said he heard six shots.
Six Winchester 40-caliber shell casings were found, said Jordan Ashworth, a crime scene technician with the Lake Charles Police Department.
Sylvester and Bellard both said they knew Hadnot. “Yeah, I knew him,” Sylvester said. “We had troubles in the past.”
Bellard said he had known Hadnot since he was 11 or 12 years old.
Both gunmen were wearing hoodies, but “I seen his dreads and gold teeth and I knew who he was,” Sylvester said.
Chretien said he had never seen the robbers before, describing Hadnot as having “dreads and two golds (teeth).” Hadnot was wearing a gray Alabama hoodie, he said.
“When I was in the hospital, I saw (Hadnot’s) picture on the news,” Chretien said. “I was like, ‘That’s the dude who shot me.’ ”
Prior to the shooting, Hadnot and Lon Porter, who is charged as an accessory but is not on trial, went to Porter’s sister’s house, she said. Lon Porter wanted to park his green Buick at her house, but she told him no, Contessa Porter testified.
Lon Porter and Hadnot parked the car down the street and got into a burgundy Ford Focus owned by Jasmine Hales, Contessa Porter said. Hales is also charged as an accessory.
Lon Porter returned to her house alone the next morning “scared, afraid, crying,” and said he had messed up, she said, by turning over the keys to his car to “Tay-Tay” (Armonta Hadnot).
The Buick was detected by license-plate-identifying cameras along Interstate 10 traveling in eastbound in the right-hand lane, away from Lake Charles, Shannon Arnold, an investigative specialist with the Louisiana State Police Fusion Center, testified. It was then detected in the Breaux Bridge area, traveling west in the left-hand lane toward Lake Charles at 8:29 p.m. on March 21.
A Calcasieu Parish sheriff’s deputy, Cody Soileau, saw the Buick in north Lake Charles later that night. Before he turned on his siren and lights, the Buick crashed into two other vehicles and the driver took off, leaving the door open and the radio blaring, Soileau said.
Cpl. Michael Treadway, Lake Charles police canine officer, said he and Barry, his Dutch Shepherd, attempted to track Hadnot to no avail. While searching from his car, Treadway drove by a pedestrian who had short dreadlocks and hid his face from Treadway. When Treadway turned around, the man ran.
Treadway and Barry gave chase on foot and Treadway saw the man standing under light with his back to a garage. He yelled at the man to get down, then commanded Barry to bark.
The man, Hadnot, got on the ground and was arrested, Treadway said. Looking around, Treadway saw a Glock pistol about 15 feet away.
The gun was a 40-caliber Glock 35, with a 15-round clip, Ashworth said.
