Four months after a jury deadlocked, unable to decide whether Joshua Andrews was guilty or innocent of first-degree murder while armed, a second jury has been assembled. On Tuesday they heard opening arguments in the case.
Andrews is charged in the 2010 shooting death of Darond Alonte Lucas.
Prosecutors argue that Andrews waited in ambush on the night of the killing with another man in the shadows. When Lucas and another man, Phillip Smith emerged from the apartment building, Andrews emerged from under a balcony and shot Lucas in the leg, disabling him, according to Assistant US Attorney Jonathan Kravis.
Andrews also shot Smith twice, who nonetheless was able to run away onto a departing bus, according to prosecutors. Kravis said that a few days later Andrews told a witness, Ronald Johnson, that he then walked up and shot Lucas several times in the head, killing him.
Lucas was found by police in the grass near the 1600 block of W Street Southeast on June 5, 2010, with multiple gunshot wounds. He was reported to have no signs of life and was later transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who pronounced him dead.
A witness who saw and identified Andrews before the shooting said he was wearing clothing different from what the witness who was shot with Lucas and ran away said the shooter was wearing, according to the defense.
Andrews’ defense attorney Craig Moore argues that the evidence isn’t proving the story, and the prosecution is trying to make the evidence fit their story.
Moore argues that Johnson’s account of what Andrews told him differs from Smith’s account in a way that can’t be ignored.
In November, jurors were unable to reach a verdict and a new trial was ordered by Judge Ronna Beck.
The jury will continue to hear the case this week.
