MARIETTA, Ga. – The jury hearing the trial of a Brunswick 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting a toddler as he sat in his stroller heard from 10 more prosecution witnesses as the trial entered it second week.
De'Marquise Elkins is charged with murder in the March 21 shooting death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago.
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Prosecutors have said Antonio was killed in a botched robbery and that ballistics and other evidence implicate Elkins. The baby's mother, Sherry West, was also wounded in the shooting. She is scheduled to testify Tuesday.
Among the witnesses Monday was a family friend of Elkins, who testified that the teen hid a gun under their couch the day after the toddler's murder. Danielle Williams said that later that day, Elkin's mother, Karimah, and sister, Sabrina, came to the house looking for the gun.
"I saw Sabrina lift up the sofa and get the gun," Williams told the jury.
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The two women are charged with tampering with evidence, accused of dumping the gun in a pond. Karimah Elkins is being triad simultaneously with her son; Sabrina Elkins will be tried separately.
Also testifying Monday was Willie Merrell, who said he drove the two Elkins women to a fishing pond off Highway 17, saying, "I heard a loud splash."
Brunswick police searched that pond and found a .22-caliber revolver. They have not said whether that was the gun used to kill the toddler.
Late in the day, a Georgia Bureau of Investigation firearms examiner testified that both Antonio and his mother were hit with .22-caliber bullets, they were from different manufacturers, and he could not rule out that two different guns were involved.
The trial is being held in Marietta because of the publicity the case garnered in the spring. The prosecution is expected to rest Tuesday after West's testimony.
If convicted, Elkins faces up to life in prison.