Afternoon testimony continued Monday, October 30, 2017, in the bench trial of a local man accused of cutting his former girlfriend’s throat and killing her.
The key afternoon witness in Caddo District Court, in the second-degree murder trial of Kelvin Dewayne Brown II, was the responding officer who heard victim Alicia West’s dying declaration that Brown used a knife to stab her.
That morning, four witnesses, including the victim’s mother and the crime-scene investigator, testified. Morning trial proceedings also included presentation of crime scene photos and the victim’s body at the hospital.
Testimony will resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 31, 2017, when the state will introduce a cell phone expert, the medical examiner, the lead detective and various civilian witnesses. The state then is expected to rest its case.
The case is before District Judge John D. Moseley Jr., who will determine Brown’s guilt or innocence. Brown, 29, of Benton, is accused of the December 6, 2014 slaying of former romantic partner West, 33, who ended the relationship shortly before the murder. She later was attacked and her throat slashed. She died at University Health.
Prosecutors are assistant District Attorneys Britney A. Green and Ron Christopher Stamps. Brown is defended by Michelle Andrepont.
If convicted as charged, Brown faces a mandatory life prison term at hard labor, with no possibility of probation, parole or reduction of sentence.