Eyewitnesses testify about fatal shooting; men were using drugs, alcohol

Four Cape Girardeau men drank alcohol, took pills, smoked marijuana and snorted cocaine in the hours before one of the men, Malcolm Harris, shot another man dead, two survivors said Wednesday.

The survivors — Rodney Smith and Terrell Hunt — testified for the prosecution during the second day of Harris’ first-degree murder trial in Cape Girardeau County Circuit Court in Jackson.

Harris, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Domorlo McCaster, 28, in the back of the head as the four men sat in a parked, gold-colored GMC Envoy in south Cape Girardeau about 6 a.m. May 14, 2016.

Hunt said Smith was driving the Envoy and picked him up about midnight.

“We were on a lot of pills. We were on a lot of cocaine. We were on a lot of liquor,” Hunt told the jury.

He said they took Xanax and Percocet pills.

“We mixed it with everything,” he added.

Hunt described the victim as his best friend. He said he also was “close” with Smith and Harris.

Smith drove around and later parked in the driveway of Smith’s mother’s house at 955 Fort St., Hunt said.

Hunt said he was sitting in the back seat behind Smith. Harris sat behind McCaster, who was in the front passenger seat, Hunt said.

Smith later offered similar testimony about where they were seated in the vehicle.

Hunt and Smith testified the sun was coming up when the shooting occurred, and it took them by surprise.

Hunt said he saw Harris shoot McCaster in the back of the head with a black handgun. Hunt said “smoke” and “blood” were coming from McCaster’s head.

Hunt said he briefly glanced at Harris.

“It was like he was lost. ... I don’t know if he realized what he did,” Hunt said.

Hunt kept his head down during much of his testimony, frequently becoming combative when questioned by defense attorney Stephen Wilson.

“I don’t have no grudge against nobody,” he said.

Hunt and Smith said they did not call 911 and initially lied to police, saying they had no knowledge of the incident.

Smith and Hunt said they grew up in the south-side neighborhood where black people don’t talk to police.

“Where I come from, you don’t call the police,” Smith told the all-white jury of five women and eight men.

The trial began Tuesday with 14 members on the jury, including two alternates. But Judge Benjamin Lewis disclosed at the start of court proceedings Wednesday the lone black member of the jury had been excused because of a prior commitment, leaving only one alternate on the jury.

Hunt testified he finally recounted the crime to police after he and Smith talked while both were being held in the Cape Girardeau city jail after the body was discovered.

McCaster’s body was discovered face-down May 19, 2016, near Ranney Park.

Smith, who is accused of tampering with physical evidence in the case, testified in court in handcuffs.

Smith said he and the others drove around, getting high on alcohol and drugs.

“We were getting messed up,” he said.

He recalled they were seated in the vehicle at his mother’s house.

“I heard a gunshot and jumped out of the car,” Smith said, adding he saw McCaster slumped over the console.

Smith said he saw Harris standing outside the vehicle.

“He was holding a gun in his right hand,” Smith said.

He testified he dumped the body in a wooded area near Ranney Park and threw his gun and Harris’ gun into the Mississippi River.

Smith said he also cleaned the vehicle and was involved in efforts to hide the vehicle out of state.

Shaneika Robinson, Smith’s ex-girlfriend, also testified. She is charged with tampering with physical evidence.

She told the jury the Envoy was her vehicle. She said she saw blood in the front passenger seat.

“I was told someone got popped in my vehicle,” she said, referring to the shooting.

Robinson said she heard Harris say he needed to find Hunt “so he could pop him.”

Robinson said she and Harris’ girlfriend at the time drove the Envoy to Dyersburg, Tennessee, in an effort to hide the vehicle.

After the body was found, she said she and Smith drove to Dyersburg and moved the vehicle to Smith’s sister’s house.

Robinson described using bleach in an effort to clean the car’s interior.

Robinson insisted she was not testifying in an effort to get a lighter sentence.

“I am trying to do the right thing,” she said. “I am already in trouble.”

Cape Girardeau police officer and lead evidence technician Cary Dunavan said no bullet or shell casing was found in the vehicle, which was recovered in Tennessee. Dunavan said bullets are not found at every crime scene.

Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday. The case is expected to go to the jury today.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Ranney Park, Cape Girardeau, Mo.