DAYTON — A jury heard from people who lived and worked on the street where a landscaper was shot and killed last year.
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News Center 7’s Mike Campbell is in court following this story. He will have the latest LIVE on News Center 7 at 5:00 and 6:00.
Travis Jackson is on trial for the murder of Tanner Staggs on Indiana Avenue last September.
Staggs and three other people were working a landscaping job in the area on Sept. 18, 2025.
Paulette Trickey recalled stepping out of her home and seeing a man lying down in the street.
“I heard two bangs, at first I thought it was firecrackers,” Trickey said.
She ran over to the fallen man, Staggs, and said that two other men were standing there. One of whom was Jackson.
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“I said, ‘What happened?’ and he said, ‘I shot him, I shot him!’ I said ‘Dude, what did you do that for?’ and he didn’t say anything to me,” Trickey said.
Jackson’s lawyers allege that Jackson only fired shots in self-defense after Staggs hit him.
Glass repair worker Luis Duenas had just pulled up to a job on the same street.
“As soon as I jump out, I hear gunshots. I look over, I see him shooting over, he was in the middle of the street,” Duenas said.
He said Jackson told him he’d been attacked, but Duenas said he only saw the shooting.
Both he and Trickey testified that Jackson walked back into his home and out and then back in again.
They stayed with Staggs.
“The reason I wanted to be there, to apply pressure, to let him know there was somebody there for him, somebody there for him, someone helping him,” Trickey said.
The prosecution has not yet called any police witnesses to the stand.
The workers who were with Staggs also testified.
“The first thing I hear was Travis say, ‘It looks like y’all boys got (expletive) on my car,” Christian Horn said.
A worker volunteered to blow the debris off, but Staggs allegedly said something else to Jackson.
‘Tanner matched Travis’ attitude," Horn said.
He said he went back to work, but then heard the two men fighting.
“Caught me attention, but before I could even turn around, gunshots went off,” Horn said.
Workers called 911.
A woman who lived right across the street from the job also testified.
She told the jury she didn’t hear arguing but did see Jackson pull out a gun.
“Next thing I know, he aimed again and one of the workers, I’m not sure which one, screamed out, ‘don’t shoot,’ and he shot,” Sarah Phillips said.
We will continue to follow this story.
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