LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Tyree Smith's mother took the stand as one of the first witnesses in the murder trial of two men accused of killing her 16-year-old son at a Louisville bus stop in 2021.
Opening statements began and the first witnesses took the stand Tuesday morning after the jury was selected Monday 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 Tyree Smith. The Eastern High School student died in a drive-by shooting in September 2021 at West Chestnut and Dr. W.J. Hodge streets.
Tyree Smith
Smith's mother took the stand Tuesday, begging for justice for her son as she recounted the horrific morning.
"He said 'Mama, I'm shot, get here,' and so that was the first thing that replays over in my head all the time," Sherita Smith said. "And I'm like 'You shot?' and he said 'Somebody just came to the bus stop and shot up the bus stop, get here.'"
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 Tyree Smith was not the intended target.Â
"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.
"When you send your kids to school, and they're just going to school and they're doing the right thing, you don't expect no harm to come to no bus stop where kids is at," Smith said.
The first officer on the scene of the shooting also took the stand Tuesday, and his body camera footage was shown in the courtroom. Surveillance footage from a camera near the bus stop was also shown.
It's unclear right now how long the trial is expected to last.
This story will be updated.
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