A Little Rock man seriously wounded in a shooting that killed another man last year left the Pulaski County Courthouse by ambulance Thursday after he began struggling to breathe while describing to a circuit judge how he escaped two gunmen.
The judge, Barry Sims, called 911 from the bench when witness Terrance Lawan Brison was overcome, possibly because of an injury that Brison said he suffered from a bullet that grazed his lung when he was wounded multiple times in January 2014 at the Mabelvale Place apartments on Mabelvale Pike. Brison also testified that the shooting had left him with seriously high blood pressure.
Killed was 31-year-old Thomas Gilbert of Little Rock. Brison's cousin, Rickey Hill, was shot in the back while trying to get away from the gunmen.
Two teenagers -- Tracy Brown and Tracy Trevor Bailey Jr. -- have been charged with capital murder, aggravated robbery and committing a terroristic act. Prosecutors are seeking life sentences. Bailey, 19, is set to stand trial next month. Brown's trial has not been scheduled.
Brown, who was 17 at the time of the slaying, was in court to ask the judge to transfer his charges to juvenile court, a request the judge denied after Thursday's hearing.
According to testimony Thursday, Gilbert and Hill, driving a black Chevrolet Tahoe, had gone to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana to Brown and Bailey. Brison, who had set up the sale, was with Brown and Bailey as they met up with Gilbert and Hill at the Raceway convenience store on University Avenue. Bailey asked Hill if he had scales to weigh the "weed." Hill said he did not, so Bailey asked if they could all go to his parents' home for scales.
Hill testified he knew Bailey's father, so he did not feel uncomfortable with the request, and he drove himself, Gilbert and Brison to the apartment complex. After he parked, Hill said, Bailey and Brown walked up to the Tahoe and opened the back passenger door as if they were getting inside.
"When they opened the door, they started shooting. They never asked for nothing," Hill testified. "I jumped out of the car. I thought I was shot up. I turned and looked and I saw my cousin [Brison] fall face forward on the ground."
Hill, who raised his shirt to show the judge a star-shaped wound on his back, said he was hit in the back as he got out of the sport utility vehicle. The bullet remains lodged in his back, he testified.
Both Hill and Brison admitted Thursday that they had been dealing drugs. The marijuana was left behind after the shooting, but Brison said he had $1,000 that was taken from the SUV after he fled the vehicle.
During his testimony, the 32-year-old Brison showed the judge several gunshot wounds to his left biceps and shoulder and raised his shirt to show a larger wound on his left side. He said he ran to several neighboring homes to get help before he ended up at 7212 Shetland Drive, where he received assistance. When police arrived, he directed them to the nearby apartments, where they found Gilbert dead inside the Tahoe.
Brison had been on the stand about 15 minutes when he became ill. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Willard Proctor, Brison got sick as he was describing for the third time how he had escaped the gunmen. He'd previously recounted the shooting twice during questioning by the prosecution.
Brison said he was in the back seat of the Tahoe when Bailey opened the rear driver-side door and opened fire. Brison, in the rear passenger seat, said he jumped out of the sport utility vehicle and hit the ground, which knocked the wind out of him.
On the ground, he could see the gunmen's feet as they walked around the SUV, telling the judge he heard what he assumed to be the "click clack" sounds of the men reloading their weapons.
"When I see both the feet coming and heard the click clack ... God gave me the strength and I took off running," Brison said.
But when Brison suddenly paused in midanswer about five minutes after Proctor began questioning him, the lawyer asked Brison if he needed a break, and Brison said he did.
Prosecutors John Hout and John Johnson then moved to the witness stand to see to Brison. What happened next couldn't be seen clearly across the courtroom, but the judge said he was calling for help.
An ambulance arrived with lights and sirens blazing, and two emergency medical technicians came, inserted an IV and wheeled Brison out on a stretcher. His eyes were open, and he appeared conscious as they rolled him out of the courtroom, with his right hand over his heart. Details of his condition were not available Thursday evening.
The whole episode, from getting sick to leaving the court on the gurney, took about 15 minutes.
Brown did not take the stand, but both his mother, 42-year-old Tracey Robinson, and pastor, Charles Browning, testified about his good character. He's never been in trouble with the law or in school, they said. Brown was a Central High School senior at the time of the shooting and surrendered to authorities two days after the slaying. He's been jailed ever since.
Metro on 01/23/2015