Ex-Sbarro worker testifies that defendant shot boss in head, her 8 times

Asked Tuesday to recall the minutes leading up to when she was shot and her co-worker killed, Jashonta Thomas covered her eyes with one hand and started gasping for breath.

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The Little Rock woman was emotional but unshakable in her testimony Tuesday that Deonte Edison was the man who wounded her and killed her boss, 25-year-old Christian Ellis Hayes, in a February 2013 armed robbery at the now-closed Sbarro pizza restaurant at Park Plaza mall.

Edison was accompanied that night by his co-defendant, 21-year-old Tristan Lee'Andre Bryant, who told her that she would go free and unharmed, Thomas testified. Instead, the 20-year-old woman was shot as she tried to run from the men.

Edison, who turned 20 last week, is the first of the two accused in the fatal holdup attempt to stand trial on charges of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.

Prosecutors rested their case before Circuit Judge Leon Johnson on Tuesday afternoon. The defense is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. today. It's not clear whether Edison will testify.

Bryant is scheduled for trial next month.

Thomas' eyes were damp and she sometimes breathed heavily as she struggled to keep her composure on the witness stand, her arms trembling and her legs shaking. She said she was shot eight times and spent weeks recuperating in the hospital and in rehabilitation.

Thomas' voice cracked and she hugged her arms to her sides as chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson asked her to tell a Pulaski County jury how she knew the two men, Edison and Bryant.

Edison was a co-worker, while Bryant, a former employee and the nephew of Sbarro manager Bryan Williams, spent a lot of time in the food court because his brother worked at a neighboring restaurant, Thomas told the eight women and four men hearing the evidence. She said she and Bryant regularly spoke.

About 10 minutes into her 75-minute testimony, when Johnson asked her to recall when she first saw the men the night Hayes was killed, Thomas began to sob. She continued crying as she told jurors that Edison and Bryant had entered the eatery through a back door as she was mopping up just after closing time. Hayes was counting money when they entered, Thomas said.

She covered her mouth trying to keep her composure and Johnson switched his line of questioning, asking her about her family and memories of high school. She was still crying as she tried to answer him.

Invoking Thomas' recollections of a young niece, Johnson asked Thomas to keep the little girl in mind as she testified.

"Can you think about her and be strong for a minute?" the prosecutor asked just before the judge called a 10-minute recess to give Thomas time to pull herself together.

When jurors returned, a more-composed Thomas told them that Edison suddenly produced a pistol and told Hayes to put the money in a bag.

"He had it [the gun] right at his head," she said. "I walked to the front of the store ... to get help."

Thomas said she hoped to get the attention of a janitor right outside the restaurant by waving her hand and throwing a plastic spoon, but the custodian apparently didn't notice her. She was too afraid to yell, Thomas said, and she didn't think she would be able to jump over the counter.

Bryant walked up to her and told her that she would be released but that Hayes was going to die, Thomas said.

"We're going to let you go. We're going to kill Chris," she quoted Bryant in her testimony. "Deonte said, 'Naw, she's coming with us.'"

Hayes spoke up then, telling the men he wanted to go home, too, Thomas said, and Edison shot him in the head.

Her voice quavering and her breathing heavy, Thomas said she turned and ran but was also shot by Edison.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Julia Jackson, Thomas acknowledged her description of what Edison and Bryant had said and done that night had changed since she had spoken with police.

It's a discrepancy that Thomas blamed on the trauma she'd suffered and the pain medication she was taking when police questioned her in her hospital bed.

Challenging whether Thomas could clearly remember what happened, Jackson asked her about her prescription eyeglasses and suggested that the shootings happened so quickly and Thomas was so injured that her memory couldn't be trusted.

During questioning by the prosecution, Thomas told jurors that she might not remember every detail of what happened, but she was sure of who had done it to her.

"I know Deonte. It was Deonte. I seen him," she told jurors.

"Were you so scared you forgot who shot you?" asked Johnson, the prosecutor. "Were you so scared you forgot who shot Christian Hayes?"

No, Thomas replied, telling jurors she wouldn't accuse Edison if she wasn't sure he was the gunman.

Metro on 08/20/2014

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