Donnie Hill is sure he knows the man behind the wheel of a van that followed him the afternoon he was gunned down: It was his next-door neighbor of 15 years, Hill says.
Hill, 34, described to a jury Thursday how Yusuf Winston-Bey, 27, and an acquaintance, Victor Rickey Shuron Jr., followed him on a cigarette run to the Waverly Shopping Center on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore City that afternoon of Nov. 27, 2006 ? just two days before he planned to testify against Shuron in a Baltimore County homicide case.
It was Shuron, Hill testified, who, wearing a mask that covered all but his eyes, approached Hill?s vehicle and shot him six times as he scrambled to dive into the back seat.
Both defendants are charged with attempted murder and witness intimidation.
Defense lawyers highlighted Hill?s criminal record ? which includes armed robbery and drug possession convictions ? and reliance on strong pain medications for a knee injury from a motorcycle crash. Assistant public defender Michael Schaech said Hill never saw the van at the shopping center, relying only on Shuron?s eyes, clothing and build to identify him.
“You know who shot you because you think you saw Victor in the van,” Schaech said.
“I don?t think, I know,” Hill responded.
Hill said he has known Winston-Bey since he was 4, seeing him almost daily until a relationship-changing argument in April 2005. Earlier that month, Hill had spoken to police about the homicide case and Shuron, whom he knew only through Winston-Bey.
Hill?s testimony varied at times from the account offered by his girlfriend, who was in the passenger side of the car during the shooting. She said Hill never purchased the cigarettes; he said he did.
She said the shooter wore a knit cap beneath the hood of his sweatshirt. Hill testified the shooter had short, dark hair. Testimony is expected to continue today.
