DAYTON — The man accused of killing a landscaper over grass clippings faced a jury on Monday.
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Jurors were brought to the scene where the shooting happened before returning to the courtroom to hear lawyers try to lay out their beliefs about what happened.
“The case that you’ve been called to deliberate over started because of an argument over grass clipping on a car,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Redden told the jury.
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Prosecutors told the jury that what happened last September is simple.
They allege Travis Jackson got mad that someone on a landscaping crew used a high-powered blower to remove grass clippings from a job at his neighbor’s house.
Some small pieces of that debris went onto Jackson’s car.
Prosecutors believe he became so upset that he shot and killed Tanner Staggs.
But Defense lawyer Anthony VanNoy painted a much different picture.
He said that Jackson asked one employee to blow the debris off his car and claimed that the employee went to grab a blower.
VanNoy said Staggs and another employee confronted Jackson, and Staggs hit Jackson, possibly with brass knuckles.
Jackson was woozy and felt like Staggs would continue to attack, and fired in self-defense, VanNoy alleges.
“Unbelievable, unreliable, just not true. This case is not about Mr. Jackson shooting Mr. Staggs over grass clippings. He’s not some guy that says, ‘I got something for you, boy,’ that never happened,” VanNoy said.
The testimony is expected to pick up on Tuesday as witnesses and police officers will take the stand.
We will continue to follow this trial.
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