A video entered as evidence in the murder trial of John Henry Spooner
on Tuesday appears to show the 76-year-old shooting his 13-year-old
neighbor Darius Simmons dead.
The Milwaukee senior is charged with first-degree homicide after the
alleged incident in May last year. Jurors saw the video (below), taken
from Spooner's own surveillance camera, that shows the suspect walk out
of his house, brandishing a gun. After a short argument, the man in the
video waves the gun around before he shoots Simmons in the chest.
Simmons manages to flee outside the scope of
the camera before dying.
Simmons' mother, Patricia Larry, testified in court that Spooner accused her son of burglarizing his home, stealing several weapons. She said Spooner told Simmons he'd teach him a lesson before firing the fatal shot.
She added that her son died in her arms moments later.
Police say Spooner admitted to the crime, and that he claimed
Simmons was part of a black family next door that had caused nothing but
trouble, according to the Associated Press.
Jury selection began Monday, and potential jurors were asked about their thoughts on racial issues, as well as the recent and George Zimmerman trial, according to local news station TMJ-4.
Jurors will need to decide whether Spooner intentionally killed
Simmons, and whether Spooner was suffering from a mental illness at the
time that prevented him from knowing right from wrong.
John Henry Spooner has been found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting of Darius Simmons.
Source: HUFFPOST
