DAYTON — Testimony continued on Wednesday in the case of a man accused of a shooting that killed a 12-year-old girl while she was sleeping.
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The prosecution has a steady stream of witnesses late yesterday and today, mostly employees of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and the Dayton Police Department.
A Dayton Police evidence technician described what he found on the morning of August 23, 2024, and the prosecutor walked him through pictures he took that showed the homes hit by the bullets.
That included 39 and 41 W. Fairview Avenue, a duplex where police believe the intended target of the gunfire lived, and 33 W. Fairview Avenue, a single-family home where Carlos lived with her family.
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The officer also showed the massive amount of shell casings on the porch and front yard of a home across the street, where police believe brothers Antawan Benson and Javen Conner opened fire.
As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, prosecutors then showed the pictures from Carlos’s bedroom, with bullet holes in the walls and curtains.
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“We located a projectile in the headboard of the bed where the victim was located,” Officer Evan Geus said.
Prosecutors had a forensic pathologist from the coroner’s office in front of the jury late Tuesday. She testified that she could not determine how many times Carlos was hit by gunfire.
She did tell the jury that the 12-year-old had serious wounds to her chin and neck. She also showed X-rays that showed a bullet lodged in her upper abdomen after creating deadly damage to her lungs and heart.
As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, a woman who lived on the other side of the duplex from the intended target spoke in front of the jury.
“I just heard some shots and felt them. They came through my wall of my bedroom,” Nikki Grant.
Grant said she was surprised more people didn’t die the night Carlos was killed.
“My fiance and I were in the front bedroom, which is where the shots came through,” Grant said. “My daughter was in the middle bedroom, and then my son was at the back of the house.”
Grant testified that her family lived in the duplex that includes 39 and 41 West Fairview.
Police have said that Grant and her family were also not the intended targets.
Authorities believe the gunmen fired 37 total shots.
Grant found one 24 hours after the shooting.
“A hole through my mattress and a corresponding bullet hole in the wall,” she said.
Defense lawyers said Grant’s horrible experience doesn’t mean Benson was involved.
“You have no idea who’s involved in this? You’re just, unfortunately, a bystander?” the defense lawyer asked.
“Yeah, I was simply sleeping,” Grant replied.
Prosecutors still have several witnesses to call in this trial, and they may not finish their case before Friday.
It’s unclear if the defense will call any witnesses to the stand.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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