From the witness stand, 14-year-old boy pins murder on two 17-year-olds

A 14-year-old boy took the witness stand Monday to point at two 17-year-olds as the drive-by killers of a 19-year-old woman on Wilmington's northside. 

Abdullah Brown and Deonta Carney, both 17, are standing trial for first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons charges for the death of Keshall "KeKe" Anderson in Sept. 2016.

After one week of trial, Monday's teen witness was the first called by prosecutors that put Brown and Carney at the murder scene in testimony that contradicted himself and other witnesses while illustrating childhood trauma that plagues parts of the city. 

The boy, who was 13 at the time of the killing, is currently facing unrelated assault charges and was escorted into court by armed guards. His name is being withheld by The News Journal because of his age and prosecutors' concerns that wide publication of his testimony will lead to his harm.

He told the jury he was celebrating a friend's birthday on the 200 block of W. 20th Street shortly after midnight when he noticed a black Chevrolet Impala make the block a second time — something he had learned is a dangerous sign, he said.  

"That is how it is in Wilmington," he said.

He pointed the car out to a friend, who he said warned others just before gunfire rang out.

"It all happened so fast," he said.  

In an interview with Wilmington Police Detective Robert Fox about a month after the shooting, the teen picked out Brown, Carney and another teen, who has not been charged, from a photo lineup as the occupants of the Impala. 

The boy's interview with the detective was replayed for the jury Monday. He identified the defendants by their nicknames — Dink for Carney and Dullah for Brown. 

"I saw his hair first," said the boy, referring to the long, braided locks Brown had when he was arrested. "Dullah is shooting out the back passenger window."

McDonald's receipts recovered by police put Brown and unidentified men inside a stolen black Impala in the days before and after the shooting. Brown's fingerprints were also found on the car.

Other witnesses have told the jury that a dark car was the source of the gunfire. Before Monday, no witness had identified its occupants for the jury.

The boy said the car's tinted windows were rolled up, other than the back passenger side. In his 2016 interview with detectives, he said he could see Brown shooting, Carney driving and another teen, who was not charged, in the front passenger seat after the car had gone by.

On the stand, he told the jury that he could really only pick out Brown and Carney in the car. His statement to detectives included the other teen by association, he said. 

"I wasn't sure of the other person in the car," he told the jury. "Every time I see them, I see him."

The boy had also told detectives that the gun used was a Glock, but later backed off of that and told the jury he had previously told the detective the first gun that "popped into his head." 

"You embellished what you saw that night," asked Peter Veith, an attorney representing Brown. 

The boy's testimony also didn't align with that of Jessie Jamison, a 21-year-old man who was celebrating his birthday on the block that night. The boy told the jury he was hanging out with Jamison, warned him when the Impala made its second pass and had a shot of Ciroc vodka from him.

Jamison told the jury that he knew the boy from seeing him on Market Street but hadn't been hanging out with him. He also said he wasn't warned about the Impala and was drinking Crown Royal.

He added that he couldn't identify the shooter's car or its occupants. 

Defense attorneys used the boy's criminal background to question his motivation for calling out Brown and Carney as killers.

At 13, the boy was facing no fewer than eight criminal charges ranging from disorderly conduct to theft when he told detectives that Brown and Carney killed Anderson. 

"I think it is crucial to understand the context of his statement (to detectives)," said Brett Hession, a public defender representing Carney, successfully petitioning the judge to allow the jury to hear about the charges.

Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride questioned the boy about his motivation and background. A plea agreement between the state and the boy did not include testifying in the Anderson murder trial but defense attorneys argued the charges could have been part of his decision to speak. 

The boy's story sounds like that of other kids in Wilmington, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found children living in some of the city's neighborhoods are nearly three times as likely to experience some sort of trauma as children elsewhere in Delaware. 

An analysis by The News Journal and Associated Press of shooting incidents in the city for a three year period found that kids are more likely to be shot in Wilmington than in any other U.S. city.

The boy said he was "in the streets" to "get money for himself and his family." His brother had been shot before and has been "locked up," leaving him as the eldest male figure in the home, he said.

He told the jury that in the months leading up to the shooting, he was stabbed in the stomach. 

"I robbed people that was selling drugs and stuff," the boy said. "I wasn't going around robbing and shooting innocent bystanders." 

He said he was offered no deal for leniency in his cases in return for cooperation with prosecutors in the Anderson killing. He said his grandmother asked him if he'd want justice if he were in the same position as Anderson's family. 

He said testifying feels like the right thing to do to "help their family out." 

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com. Follow @Ber_Xerxes on Twitter.