PETERSBURG – Both sides rested Thursday in the Toni Knight murder trial but not before the defendants took the stands to claim their focus was on self-defense, not on killing a bystander.

In sometimes muted, sometimes rambling and sometimes tense testimony, Devin Mitchell and Jesiah Flowers described the events that led up to the July 2, 2022 confrontation that ultimately took Knight’s life. Cross-examinations frequently became confrontational as each man claimed the other initiated the gunfight inside the ArtistSpace Lofts apartment complex on Perry Street.

Both are charged with second-degree murder in the death of Knight, a 19-year-old woman who was shot through the chest as she carried groceries into the building. Police say she was caught in crossfire in the building’s lobby, and the commonwealth’s attorney’s office filed murder charges against both men because their actions were responsible for the young woman’s death.

What has made the trial interesting is the fact that both defendants were also charged with attempting to injure the other during the battle. Flowers is charged with malicious wounding for shooting Mitchell. That made for some contentious moments at the defense table during the two days of testimony.

More: Knight murder trial begins with differing accounts of what prompted the ArtistSpace gunfire

In their own defense

In back-to-back appearances on the stand – first Mitchell, then Flowers – both said they acted out of fear after noticing the other was armed. According to surveillance video from the building, Mitchell and Flowers passed each other on a stairwell when something sparked the shootout. Mitchell was by himself while Flowers was accompanied by his two sisters and 16-year-old Keshawn Hicks, a third suspect who made a plea agreement with prosecutors and will be sentenced in August.

Mitchell testified that as he passed the group, he heard one of them say, “Motherf****r ain’t talking s***!” He said he looked over his shoulder and saw Flowers and Hicks coming down the steps reaching for their weapons.

Mitchell, who was carrying a .40-caliber Glock in a holster, said he took out his gun and held it by his side. Flowers reported fired three .9mm bullets, one of which hit Mitchell in the side, and Mitchell began firing. He said Knight was never in his line of fire, despite the fact he was heading out the door as she was coming in, and he only saw her peripherally.

The video showed Knight falling face-down to the sidewalk as Mitchell left the building, his gun pointed back into the complex.

“I thought she was just trying to get out of the way,” Mitchell said.

Under cross-examination, Mitchell was asked why he did not just run outside when he saw the people coming after him because nothing was physically blocking the doorway. An avid gun enthusiast, Mitchell said the “fight-or-die" impulse took over, so he drew his gun to defend himself.

“It was the only option,” he testified. “I felt like if I turned my back and ran, I would have been gunned down.”

Several times during the cross-examination from Flowers’ attorney James Bullard, Mitchell answered questions with questions of his own. When asked repeatedly why Flowers claimed Mitchell cursed and threatened him, Mitchell replied, “Where are you hearing that I was cursing at him?” Circuit Court Judge Dennis Martin had had enough.

“You answer questions on the stand, you don’t ask them,” Martin admonished Mitchell.

Flowers’ time on the stand was not any easier. He and Stephen Sommers, Mitchell’s lawyer, had their own verbal thrust-and-parry after Flowers testified that he heard Mitchell threaten “to kill me and my family” as they passed on the stairs, but he later said he went after Mitchell because he did not hear what was said.

Sommers asked Flowers why he did not walk up to Mitchell and ask him to repeat what he said, but Flowers – who had a gun in the front pocket of his hoodie – said he saw Mitchell’s gun and got scared. He also claimed he did not know Hicks and one of his sisters who followed him down the steps had their own guns.

“You went back down there looking for a fight, didn’t you?” Sommers said.

“No, sir,” Flowers replied.

“You knew you had your man behind you and your sister behind him, didn’t you?” Sommers said. “You went down those steps knowing you had fire back-up, didn’t you?”

Again, Flowers replied, “No, sir.” He claimed he never had his hand on the gun in his hoodie, but he pulled it out and fired two shots. A forensic investigator had testified earlier that three .9mm cartridges were recovered from the scene.

Flowers claimed he had a .45-caliber weapon, not a .9mm. When Sommers asked him then why investigators did not recover any spent .45 ammo, Flowers said, “I don’t know.”

A long-standing feud

Earlier in the trial, lead prosecutor Thomas Chaffe said that Flowers and Mitchell had previously encountered each other in 2020 at Hopewell High School. He produced a video of the two confronting each other in a school hallway. Both dropped their bookbags and walked into another hallway where Chaffe claimed a fight broke out. However, neither Mitchell nor Flowers said they only argued and never came to blows.

It was that bad blood, Chaffe claimed, that sparked the ArtistSpace confrontation. Mitchell was living in the complex, and Flowers’ sister had an apartment there. Surveillance video from the night before the shooting depicted Flowers getting on an elevator and seeing Mitchell walk by, but Flowers testified he never saw him before the shooting.

Bullard and Sommers lobbied Martin to not allow the video to be shown to the jury, claiming that too much time had passed between the high school and July 2. Martin denied their request, saying the video supports the prosecution’s claim that the pair had a history.

Twice on Thursday, Martin denied the defense’s request to dismiss all the charges against their clients, saying the evidence showed each acting in self-defense.

Prior to Flowers taking the stand, Martin ordered Flowers’ mother out of the courtroom for allegedly falling asleep during the trial. “This ain’t no bedroom,” the judge said, adding that he had warned her previously about her actions in the gallery.

Coroner testifies

The coroner who performed Knight’s autopsy took the stand to describe the fatal injury. Knight was shot in the upper chest, and the bullet exited through her back. As pictures of the autopsy were shown, Knight’s family members wept quietly.

Dr. Chrystal Van Dusen testified that burn marks around the entry wound indicated that the bullet hit Knight anywhere from close proximity with her skin to as far as three feet away. However, it has never been determined whether the bullet came from Mitchell’s or Flowers’ gun; therefore, both men are charged.

Flowers’ attorney believes Mitchell’s gun fired the fatal bullet because he was closer to Knight than Flowers. Van Dusen said her expertise is in determining the cause of death, not how far the shot went. Mitchell’s attorney claims a bullet from Flowers’ gun struck Knight.

The medical examiner’s office could not determine the caliber of the bullet that killed Knight. Van Dusen did testify, though, that Knight’s wound was fatal “within minutes” of being shot.

Following instructions from Martin and closing arguments by the attorneys, the jury will get the case sometime Friday morning. Court begins at 8:30 a.m.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Toni Knight murder case will go to Petersburg jury Friday