LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Tyree Smith's sister, who was with her 16-year-old brother when he was shot and killed, took the stand Wednesday in the murder trial of the two men accused of opening fire at a Louisville bus stop.

She was the first witness called on the second day of the trial in the case against Demaurion Moore and Mekhi Cable, who were 15 at the time of the shooting. They’re charged with murdering 16-year-old Smith. The Eastern High School student died in a drive-by shooting on Sept. 22, 2021, at West Chestnut and Dr. W.J. Hodge streets.

Two other children, a 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, were also at the bus stop and survived after being shot.

Police said Smith was not the intended target. 

Moore and Cable could be seen talking to one another in court Wednesday, even sharing candy during a break after several witnesses, including Smith's sister and others who were at the bus stop that morning, took the stand. 

As she recounted the moments before, during and after the shooting, Smith's sister, who was 14 at the time, said her brother was her best friend. They would always walk to the bus stop together, and that day was no different.

"I always say we were twins," she said. "(We) went outside, played basketball. I was his sister but I was more like a brother to him because he didn't have a brother."

She and Tyree were talking to friends while waiting for the bus when she saw her friend's face. They told her to run, then she heard shots coming from behind her. She said she took off running and thought about her brother. When she went to turn around, she said she saw a large beige or gray car and gunfire coming from two different guns. She said she felt the bullets fly past her, and someone close to her was hit. 

She said she only saw one person clearly, with the other person on the other side of the car. Moore and Cable's defense attorneys pressed her on that because the morning of the shooting, she only described one person. The morning of the shooting, it was dark and wet, with no street lights around the bus stop. She said she couldn't see the second person clearly, but she saw a second gun. 

She described the first person as wearing all black, but couldn't remember if they were wearing masks. She said they were tall, but one was shorter than the other and she could tell they were both Black males. She said she wasn't in the right headspace to remember two people.

"I was thinking about my brother," she said. "That was the main thing I was worried about."

After the gunfire, Smith's sister said she tried to call her mom once she'd settled down and talked to someone in a window who said they'd call police. She ran towards her brother once her mom got there.

"I just couldn't even look at him, I just walked away and started throwing up," she said. 

They put Tyree in an ambulance and took him to the hospital. His sister said she went home before going to the hospital.

"He said 'Mama, I'm shot, get here,' and so that was the first thing that replays over in my head all the time," Smith's mother, Sherita Smith, said Tuesday. "And I'm like 'You shot?' and he said 'Somebody just came to the bus stop and shot up the bus stop, get here.'" 

Others who took the stand Wednesday include a police officer who helped one of the kids who was shot and survived.

One student who was at the bus stop said she heard more than 10 gunshots and started running, but it was too dark to see the car. 

Louisville Metro Police officer Greg Harris was on patrol the morning of the shooting responded and rendered aid to one shooting victim. Some of his body camera footage was also shown in the courtroom.

"Initially it was a little chaotic at first, people were kind of spread all over the place as I was making my approach, walking around," officer Harris said. "They stated that somebody else was shot, and they were down on one of the porches on one of the houses so I went down there and found one of the victims who was shot and rendered aid."

A detective from LMPD's Homicide Unit also testified Wednesday, saying they found 12 shell casings on the scene — which were seen in body camera footage shown in the courtroom.

Smith's mother, Sherita Smith, was one of the first witnesses called to the stand Tuesday after opening statements. 

"It was just the saddest thing ever, because it's like, he looked at me and once he seen me, my son just closed his eyes and turned his head over this way and, I'll never forget that, ever get that look out of my face. I'll never forget that call," his mother said.

The prosecution said Tuesday witnesses at the bus stop saw two Black males get out of a gray Jeep Cherokee and start shooting before getting back into the car and driving away. Prosecutors said the car was reported stolen the morning of the shooting.

Through video surveillance, phone records and DNA found in the Jeep, investigators connected both Cable and Moore to the case. Investigators also found shell casings from two different guns at the scene, with one matching shell casings found in the Jeep.

Cable's defense attorney claims all the evidence points toward Moore, and not Cable. That includes Moore allegedly being connected to another shooting from later in 2021.

Moore's attorney claims there's no motive, and they never recovered any weapons to connect Moore to the shooting.

The trial will not be held Thursday, but will continue Friday morning. It's unclear right now how long it may last.

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