Shondell McAllister on Tuesday recalled screaming `` Somebody help me , my daughter 's been shot . ''
Shondell McAllister
shondell mcallister tuesday recall scream `` somebody help daughter shoot
<m> Shondell McAllister </m> on Tuesday recalled screaming `` Somebody help me , my daughter 's been shot . ''
The mother of a 10-year-old girl killed by a stray bullet on an Albany street last year said she heard a loud sound before her daughter cried out `` Mommy , mommy , I 've been hit , '' and then stumbled down the steps of their apartment .
<m> Shondell McAllister </m> on Tuesday recalled screaming `` Somebody help me , my daughter 's been shot . ''
McAllister was the first witness called in the trial of 16-year-old Jermayne Timmons , who is accused of firing the deadly shot from an intersection down the street .
McAllister described to jurors in Albany County Court the hectic scene on May 29 as she lay her daughter , Kathina Thomas , on the sidewalk while she bled from a gunshot wound in her back .
After running to find help , McAllister pushed her way back to Kathina through emergency workers , only to be told her youngest daughter was already dead .
Prosecutor David Rossi said Timmons is charged with intentional murder because he intended to kill someone , although Kathina was n't the target .
In opening statements Tuesday , public defender Peter Lynch said then- 15-year-old Timmons was at the scene of the shooting and had a gun , but is n't the one who fired the fatal shot .
Lynch said his client had a .32-caliber revolver , while autopsy results concluded that Kathina was killed by a .45-caliber bullet .
Timmons , who was arrested 12 days after the shooting , faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison if convicted .
He 's charged with two counts of second-degree murder , one count each of first- and second-degree manslaughter , and criminal possession of a weapon .
According to authorities , the teenager told police he was with a group of people down the street from Kathina 's home when they ran into a rival group and Timmons ' fired a shot at them .
The bullet missed its intended target and traveled about a block before hitting Kathina .
Timmons told police he fired when he thought he saw someone in the other group reach for a gun .
He said the gun he used was kept hidden under a shed and used by `` everyone in the neighborhood , '' and said he and his friends then rode away on the bikes and he put the gun back .
No gun has been recovered .
Prosecutors are bringing the case against Timmons without a murder weapon , and Rossi noted Tuesday that the gun was n't available because the defendant had gotten rid of it .
Witnesses for the prosecution said a shell casing found at the intersection where the fatal shot was fired matched the bullet removed from Kathina 's body .