Shooter’s Face Haunted Witness

Even the jurors cried, as a witness recounted seeing two friends die — and pointed across the courtroom to name the alleged triggerman.

The testimony took place Wednesday, on the fifth day of the double-murder trial of Markease Hill.

Andy, the distraught witness, told the jury he saw the defendant gun down his friends, Ensley Myrick and Joey Reed, in an East Street parking lot. (Myrick is pictured above in a necklace worn by his mother, Rochelle Myrick.)

Hill is accused of murdering the men on June 11, 2008 outside the Catwalk strip club. He faces life in prison. Click on the links to read about days one, two, three and four of the trial before Judge Joan Alexander in Connecticut Superior Court on Church Street.

Andy was the fourth witness to identify Hill as the shooter. His testimony contained fewer complications for the prosecution than the other three eyewitnesses’ did.

Unlike the others, Andy did not have to answer to a record of lying to the cops. He had a shorter criminal record, only two felonies. He did not appear to be testifying as part of a trade with the state.

And unlike the three others who named Hill as the gunman, Andy didn’t know Hill before the night of the shooting. He said he picked him out of a photo board without prior familiarity.

Andy, who’s 25, wore a white collared shirt and khaki pants to court. He gazed up solemnly at state prosecutor Kevin Doyle as Doyle led him through the events of June 10 – 11, 2008. Andy was hanging out with Myrick, Reed and another friend on the night of the murders, he testified.

In a couple of hours of testimony, punctuated by pauses and tears, Andy told the story from the perspective of the victims’ friend group. His testimony took the trial to a new emotional height.

The evening started at Fireside bar near the border of East Haven, he said. After a few drinks, Andy and a friend left with Myrick and Reed for the Catwalk strip club on East Street. They spent about 45 minutes at Catwalk on a slow Tuesday night.

When they left the club and entered the parking lot, the trouble began. Andy said when they got into the parking lot, four to five black females were standing near Myrick’s Mercedes Benz.

Andy picked up a white PVC pipe from the ground and waved it around playfully. He slammed it down, drawing people’s attention. A black male crossed East Street, entered the parking lot and approached Andy. Everything seemed fine. Andy passed the Mercedes and stood by his car, ready to leave.

Andy said he was standing near his driver’s door when he watched Myrick, who’s white, get into a verbal dispute with a black man in the parking lot. Myrick got out of his Mercedes and told the man to move away from his car. Myrick raised his fists, indicating he was ready to fight. Within moments, the black male whipped out a gun and shot him down, Andy testified. Myrick did not throw a punch, and no one but the shooter had any weapons, he said.

How fast did the shooter pull out the gun?

“So fast,” said Andy.

Myrick was shot in the face and fell to the ground.

At that point in his story, Andy broke down in tears. A judicial marshal crossed the courtroom and handed him a box of Kleenex. The judge asked if he needed to take a break or take a sip of water. The witness shook his head and looked down. Then he recounted how his second friend died.

Reed was ​“at the back side of Ensley’s car,” he said. ​“He was just standing there.” The shooter ​“turned around and shot him,” he said. The shots were ​“deafening.”

The witness’s lips quivered as he spoke. He dabbed his eyes with Kleenex.

In the audience, the victim’s family members held each other and cried.

Soon, four female jurors were wiping away tears, too.

In a quiet moment punctuated by sniffles, the defendant closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He did not display strong emotion.

Andy carried on. He said after his friends went down, he fled the scene within 30 seconds. He said there wasn’t much reason to stick around.

“I saw Joey die instantly, and I saw Ensley get shot in the head,” Andy said. ​“I was just scared for my life.”

Nightmares

Andy didn’t go to the police that night. A couple weeks later, he reached out to police. Detectives Rose Turney and Wayne Bullock met him at his house. They taped a statement. They showed him a photo board with eight mugshots and asked if he recognized the shooter. At the time, he couldn’t make an ID.

Over the following two months, the scene of the murders would replay constantly in Andy’s mind, he said. He said the image of the shooter haunted him.

“His face was in my head” for two months, Andy said. ​“His jaw. His eyes. His lips. His nose. His forehead.”

In August 2008, Andy was out at a downtown bar and ran into Detective Bullock. He told Bullock he was ready to look at another photo board. He met with Bullock on Aug. 24, 2008, at his home again. Cops showed him the same eight mug shots, shuffled in a different order, laid out on a piece of paper. This time, Andy picked out the shooter. ​“Without a doubt,” he said, it was Photo Number Two.

Do you see that man in the courtroom today? Prosecutor Doyle asked.

“Right there,” said Andy, pointing his finger across the courtroom at the defendant. Hill remained impassive. He swiveled his chair.

In cross-examination, defense attorney Tom Farver grilled Andy on his identification skills. He read back a description Andy gave to police: ​“deep jaw, big jaw, very dark complexion … a little scruffle” on his face. A couple descriptors — he called him ​“skinny,” and 5’6’’ to 5’7’’ tall — did not match up with Hill.

Andy admitted he had ingested four to five beers, a shot of liquor, and smoked marijuana on the night of the shooting.

Farver scrutinized how Andy could have come up with the ID.

Did Andy meet Hill another time? Did he return to the Catwalk and talk to people to try to piece together the crime? Did he ever go to the Tee Off Café, where other witnesses hung out? Andy responded no to all those questions.

He was later asked to explain his reluctance in coming forward as a witness.

“I was afraid of getting murdered, or my family getting hurt,” Andy said, ​“because he murdered two of my friends with no problem.”

Farver remained skeptical about his ability to ID the trigger man: ​“Stunningly, it came to you … a revelation in the middle of the night …” two months after the crime?

“Two months of nightmares,” Andy replied. Two months of the memory ​“replaying in my head.”