BEAVER — A former Aliquippa High School student testified he witnessed the planning of a robbery-turned-homicide and spoke to the alleged shooter moments after the incident.
Rashied Hicks, 20, testified that defendant Lawrence “Pooh Rat” Reddick Jr., 19, said “they shot at me first” in the aftermath of a double homicide on Sept. 29, 2016, in Aliquippa.
Reddick is on trial for the deaths of 18-year-old Dane Mathesius, of Brighton and New Sewickley townships, and 16-year-old William Cade Booher, of Beaver.
Hicks testified he overheard the planning of the robbery between Reddick and co-defendants Ronald “Reno” Foster, 19, and Deontae Jones, 19, both of Aliquippa. Video surveillance shows the teens gathered across the street from the Plan 12 Market in Aliquippa on the night of the incident.
Hicks said he heard Foster say he had a “lick,” or a robbery, they could commit under the guise of a drug deal between Booher and Mathesius. He said he also heard Reddick offer his firearm to be used in the deal.
After overhearing the conversation, Hicks said, he left the area but later returned after spending some time at relative’s home and a high school volleyball game. He said she saw Reddick on a side street, heard a car door close and then heard gunshots.
According to his testimony, Hicks ran from the area. He said he saw Foster and Jones, and eventually he encountered Reddick. Hicks said Reddick asked him to check to see if he had been shot, which he had not. The two ran through a series of backyards in the Plan 12 neighborhood of Aliquippa. Reddick, at one point, cleaned off and threw a gun into a patch of bushes, Hicks said.
They then went to Reddick’s home on Main Street, where he told Hicks he was shot at before opening fire, according to Hicks. Reddick gave Hicks a “nugget” of marijuana, and Hicks left the home, he said.
Hicks testified Reddick sent him a text message the next day requesting the two meet up. He said he told Reddick he would see him in school and did not meet with him.
According to previous testimony by Aliquippa High Principal Alvin Gipson, Reddick never returned to school after the shooting.
Jones, who testified Monday, said he pleaded in juvenile court to a count of conspiracy to commit robbery and is awaiting sentencing. Foster was tried in August and was found guilty of third-degree murder. He was sentenced to serve between 34 and 70 years in jail.
All three defendants were 17 at the time of the double homicide.
Hicks is expected to be cross-examined Wednesday morning. The prosecution plans to call Aliquippa Detective Sgt. Ryan Pudik as a final witness before resting its case.