The driver accused of bringing alleged hitman Jermaine Washington Jr. to the scene of a 2018 Fourth of July fatal shooting said he was paid $2,000 for his services.

Karrington Henry testified Tuesday that Washington told him “someone had money on” Dorian Colston’s head and that he would do the hit for $5,000. Henry said the hit was ordered by Josiah Jackson.

“Jermaine told me to bring him to kill Dorian,” Henry testified. “After it was done, he would receive the money.”

Henry said on the night of the shooting, Washington told Colston he needed his help to commit a robbery. The pair agreed to meet on U.S. 90 outside of the Iowa, La., city limits. Henry said he borrowed his sister’s car and drove Washington to meet Colston.

“Dorian pulled up behind my car, Jermaine got out and got in the car with Dorian,” Henry testified. “They pulled off and went the other way on 90 so I kept driving toward my cousin’s house. A few minutes later, Jermaine called for me to pull back up.”

Henry said when Colston returned, Washington shot him multiple times then got back in the passenger seat of Henry’s car.

“He killed Dorian right then,” Henry said. “I saw the flames from the gun and Jermaine getting out of the car. Dorian’s car hit me from the back so I pulled up some and then Dorian’s car went into the ditch.”

Louisiana State Police Trooper Carlos Spina testified Monday that Colston, 21, was discovered unresponsive, laying in the driver’s side seat of a vehicle parked against a tree in a ditch on U.S. 90 near Jones Road.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Johnson, who works in the evidence division, testified Monday that a plastic bag containing a black bandanna and black gloves were found on the floorboard of the front passenger seat of Colston’s car. A shell casing was also found.

Henry said when Washington got back into his car, he drove the pair to Opelousas Street and Washington found a storm drain to drop the gun in.

Later, Henry said Jackson phoned Washington and told him his payment could be found in the gas tank of Jackson’s truck.

“Jermaine got out, got about $2-$3 grand from the gas tank and gave me $2 grand and said he was gonna have to get the rest of the money,” Henry said.

When prosecutor Charles Robinson asked Henry why he was compensated, Henry said it was to pay for the damage Colston’s car had made to his sister’s vehicle.

Henry, who was initially charged with first-degree murder, accepted a plea agreement in exchange for his testimony. He has pleaded guilty to obstruction and is facing up to 40 years behind bars. Two weeks ago, Henry gave the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office the location of the gun used in Colston’s shooting.

CPSO Deputy Jason Raymond, a forensic investigator, said the gun was retrieved on April 6 — five years after being dumped in the storm drain. He said his office, with the help of city of Lake Charles workers, used a magnet on a long hose to retrieve the gun from the storm drain.

“It was rusted from being in there so long,” Raymond testified. “I had to use a vise grip to get the magazine out.”

Inside the magazine was four live rounds, Raymond said.

Amber Downs with the Louisiana State Police crime lab said the gun was highly corroded and dirty when she was given it to test.

“It took a lot of work to clean it up,” she said. “It had to sit in a cleaning solution for two days before I could get it un-seized.”

Downs said she was able to get a positive comparison between the gun and the cartridge casing found at the crime scene.

Two unnamed witnesses also took the stand Tuesday afternoon. Both served time behind bars with Washington and both previously told detectives in video recordings that Washington admitted to the killing to each of them. The first witness, who previously shared a jail cell with Washington, said he does not remember giving a statement to law enforcement because “he was full of drugs” at the time. The man is currently a patient at a drug rehabilitation facility.

The second witness — who was on the same cell block as Washington at one time — testified officers tried to bribe him to give testimony that Washington admitted to killing Colston.

“Nah, man, I never said that,” he said, testifying he was being “gaslit”and “forced to do something he doesn’t want to do for something he didn’t say.”

“Officers lied to me so I just lied back to them,” he said. “Jermaine didn’t tell me nothing.”

Mistrial denied

The second day of Washington’s first-degree murder trial began with a scolding by Judge Robert Wyatt after jurors told a bailiff they had felt uncomfortable the day before when family members who had appeared in the courtroom on Monday congregated in the parking lot after court was dismissed, some actually leaning against jurors’ vehicles.

“Several of the jurors yesterday felt they were being confronted and intimidated when members of Washington’s family hung around in the parking lot,” Wyatt said ahead of the jury being brought into the courtroom.

Wyatt said obstruction of justice charges would not be out of the question if that were proven true. The families of both Washington and Colston were asked to leave the courtroom so that each juror could be individually interviewed by the prosecution and defense.

Three of the jurors told Wyatt it was actually members of Colston’s family who were making them uncomfortable — not Washington’s supporters. All denied they felt intimidated.

“A lot of people with us in the courtroom hung around us in the parking lot,” one juror said. “It was uncomfortable because they could see what we were driving. I didn’t feel uncomfortable at that time, but when the trial is over, no matter the verdict, they know who we are and what we drive.”

In asking for a mistrial, defense attorney Pride Doran said he was concerned none of the 14 jurors “owned up” to accusing family members of being intimidating to jurors though that was what was originally reported to the bailiff.

Wyatt denied the mistrial motion, saying after talking to jurors he didn’t feel it had risen to the level of warranting a mistrial. He did, however, apologize to Doran for scolding him after initially being told the people making jurors uncomfortable were from the defendant’s family.