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‘execution style’. The defendant was charged with first degree murder, as well as other charges (felon in possession of a
firearm, aggravated robbery, etc.).

Then the independent investigation happens.

In reviewing the law enforcement and medical examiner records, reports, and photographs provided by the prosecution
in discovery, several key facts are learned:
1. The defendant and victim did know each other.
2. The autopsy report showed the trajectory of two bullets from front to back – both to the chest, with one exiting
(perforating) without being recovered, and one recovered (penetrating); and one bullet was back to front and also
exited, and was recovered from the ground by law enforcement after the investigator found it.
3. From this, the sequence of events were at least two shots from the front first, followed by one shot from the back
after the victim had fallen to the ground.
4. Further trajectory analysis, with consideration of various possible movements of the shooter and victim, would be
completed and show the shooter directly in front of the victim and then standing approximately at the shooters feet
when he was on the ground.

These facts not only dispute – they completely disprove the official narrative of multiple gunshots from behind the
victim, surprising him. These facts of themselves do not tell anything more – they do not tell who the shooter was or the
motive.

Additional independent investigation is conducted, including a neighborhood canvass developing two additional
witnesses who also only heard the gunshots, two doorbell cameras recording the defendant in the direction from the
bus stop to the victim’s house, and reinterviewing reported witnesses. Additional witness statements included
information the victim may have been dealing drugs from his house, and had no set schedule. One reported seeing the
defendant at the house recently. Prior to trial, it was asserted the shooting was in self-defense. The defendant stated he
went to the victim’s house to buy drugs and the victim became angry when he did not have all the money the defendant
still owed him. The victim pulled a gun from his back and they wrestled for it. The defendant was able to get the gun –
he described as a black semi-automatic – and when the victim came at him he shot twice, then started to run – pointing
the gun at the victim on the ground and shooting again out of fear he would be chased. He then threw the gun in a
dumpster in an alley across the street.

The facts in this scenario did not change. How they were investigated and interpreted were. Additional facts were
presented from further independent investigation. These presented both perception and perspective, disproving the
prosecution’s theory and developing the defense theory. From this, the charges may be dropped or amended, a plea
offered, or trial to follow. How, and if, each of these plays out should be based solely on the facts – not only perspective,
not only perception – empirically in support of each other.

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