2 witnesses testify in deadly road fray

Concealed-carry holder on trial in LR

Two witnesses to the fatal shooting of a man in downtown Little Rock testified Tuesday that they saw him backing away when the first shot was fired.

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Chris Aaron Schnarr, 30, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Arista Lee "AJ" Aldridge Jr., 45.

Schnarr says he shot Aldridge in self-defense in May 2013 after the men nearly collided at the intersection of Sixth Street and the Interstate 30 Frontage Road.

After the near-collision, the two men drove down Sixth Street, engaging in a brief shouting match before Aldridge's beige GMC Jimmy passed Schnarr's white Jeep Grand Cherokee and cut him off.

Both cars stopped in the 600 block of Sixth Street.

Aldridge was shot after he got out of his GMC and confronted Schnarr, a North Little Rock concealed-carry license holder.

Aldridge was shot twice, in the arm and stomach.

His girlfriend and 5-year-old son witnessed at least some of the violence.

Prosecutors told a Pulaski County jury Tuesday that Schnarr could have avoided the confrontation by driving away, but instead chose to open fire.

"Mr. Chris Schnarr's attitude was 'I'm going to shoot first and make excuses later,'" deputy prosecutor Kelly Ward said in opening statements, describing the men's argument as "very silly."

"It was ... very childish and not worth losing a life over."

The trial, scheduled to resume at 9:30 a.m. today before Circuit Judge Leon Johnson, is Schnarr's second after a previous jury could not reach a unanimous verdict.

Schnarr's attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, said his client has a heart condition that makes any physical confrontation potentially life-threatening.

Schnarr only shot Aldridge after the older man refused to heed Schnarr's warnings to stay away, even after the defendant had fired a shot, Rosenzweig told jurors.

Everything that happened to Aldridge, he brought on himself, from nearly causing a collision with Schnarr to refusing to back down from his client's drawn pistol, Rosenzweig said.

Prosecutors will have to prove that Schnarr was not defending himself when he shot Aldridge, the defense lawyer said in his opening statement.

And he questioned whether his client knew he could get away from Aldridge, a man consumed by an out-of-control rage, without endangering himself.

"This case is about a situation the victim created. He put Chris Schnarr in a position where he felt he had to act in self-defense," Rosenzweig said.

"It was Mr. Aldridge's choice to run Mr. Schnarr down. It was Mr. Aldridge's choice to block Mr. Schnarr's car. It was Mr. Aldridge's choice to get in Mr. Schnarr's face. It was Mr. Aldridge's choice to come back after walking away."

The state's star witness to the slaying was megabus driver Opprice Reed of Houston, Texas, who had what prosecutors described as the "perfect bird's-eye view" of the shooting from his driver seat.

He testified that Aldridge walked up to Schnarr's Jeep and put his hands on top of the driver's door for "a second" or a moment, before raising his hands and backing away.

Reed told jurors that Aldridge had turned his back to Schnarr and put his hands down when the first shot was fired.

Aldridge patted himself down, looked at his car then looked back at the Jeep when two more shots were fired, Reed said.

"That's when I saw the blood running out of him," Reed said, describing how he saw each shot strike Aldridge.

Reed's account was challenged by Rosenzweig, who pointed out that Reed hadn't told police he'd seen Aldridge walking backward with his hands up.

Reed responded that he was excited and out of breath when he was questioned, so he must have left that detail out of his statement.

A second driver, Kevin Paskey of Maumelle, said he, his wife and daughter were at the intersection behind Reed's bus when they saw Aldridge in the street.

The way the man was standing showed he was agitated, but there did not seem to be any violence occurring, Paskey said.

He told jurors that Aldridge seemed to be backing away when he heard two shots like "small explosions."

"I saw the man go back then fall to the ground," Paskey testified.

Questioned by the defense, Paskey acknowledged he wasn't sure Aldridge was walking away when he was shot.

"I thought he was backing away at the time," he said. "I did not see him approach. I guess that's why I was surprised by the gunshots."

Metro on 09/02/2015

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