Shooting Suspects Headed To Trial

By Ashli Sims, News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Three suspects accused of shooting up a car full of teenagers are headed to trial.

Police say it was a case of mistaken identity that killed a 16-year-old and injured three others last September.

One of the prosecution's key witnesses was actually one of the defendants.

Antonio Wells is accused of first degree murder and several counts of assault and battery with a deadly weapon right along with his fellow defendants. But on Tuesday he took the stand against them.

Looking at the car riddled with gun shots, it's hard to believe the bullets might have been intended for someone else, but that's exactly what defendant Antonio Wells told the court.

Wells has been charged with murder right along with Vincent Berry and Rashad Easley. He admits he was in the car, he even says the murder weapon was his. But he also says he knows the victims, Donivan Crutcher, Adrion Crutcher, Jahmal Bryant and Jerome Williams.

Related Story: 9/23/08 Teens' Lives Changed By Shooting

He said he was sick, when he found out they were the ones in the car, not rival gang members.

Wells told the court the intended targets were people they believed shot Rashad Easley in the stomach several days earlier.

Wells testified that he believed members of that gang were driving a maroon car back and forth in front of Easley's house on the morning of September 7th. He said later that afternoon the three spotted what they thought was the same maroon car.

Wells told the court, he, Berry and Easley stopped at Easley's home, picked up an assault rifle and took off after the car.

He says Easley was the driver and Berry was the triggerman.

Wells testified he heard 11 or 12 shots and glass shattering, then Easley cutoff the maroon car and Berry shot two more times.

A case of mistaken identity ended with Donivan Crutcher killed.  His brother Adrion is paralyzed and now bound to a wheelchair.

Williams lost an eye and the use of his right arm. Bryant was shot in the stomach.

When asked why he was testifying, Wells told the court he knows the families, that Williams' mother used to feed him. So when the police came to talk to him, he said he only felt right to do what's right.