Prosecutors said Shaun Powell was found dead in a Columbia flower bed, and witnesses testified that the teen accused of killing him was boasting after firing the fatal shots.
Monti Fleming was 15 on Aug. 26, 2006, when he allegedly shot to death Powell, 18, of Columbia, following a fight outside an apartment on Powder Run.
Prosecutors called three eyewitnesses, ages 17 to 21, to testify Tuesday in Howard Circuit Court that they watched Fleming pull a gun and shoot Powell six times as Powell tried to walk away.
The Examiner is withholding the witnesses? names because the state?s attorney?s office fears for their safety.
The witnesses said Fleming also hit Powell with a bottle before chasing him with the gun and then said he wasn?t scared of anyone.
But Fleming?s attorney, Joseph Murtha, said the witnesses don?t know for certain if any of the shots hit Powell because they never saw him fall to the ground.
The witnesses said they didn?t follow Powell to see if he was injured. Powell?s body was found the next morning in a residential area about 100 yards from the area, according to charging documents.
Emotions ran high in the courtroom, and security was increased after a courtroom scuffle between Powell?s uncle and one of Fleming?s brothers. The family members were surrounded by deputies, and Fleming?s brother was banned from the courtroom, said Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the state?s attorney?s office.
Powell?s uncle declined to give his name or comment on the altercation.
Howard Circuit Judge Louis Becker decided to allow evidence linking shell casings and a bullet to the gun seized from Fleming at the time of his arrest.
Fleming also is charged with an unrelated attempted murder for allegedly shooting Mark Golston a week earlier on Aug. 22 in Columbia, according to court records.
