CINCINNATI – A packed courtroom heard emotional testimony Thursday in the murder trial of the man accused of shooting 17-year-old Kelsie Crow outside a Sweet 16 party in 2015.
A mother who said she was picking up her kids from the party testified that she saw Crow slumped over the steering wheel of her SUV and went to her aid.
"I pulled her seatbelt back. Blood came from her nose, mouth, eyes. I thought it was a car wreck," Witness No. 2 said.
Judge Patrick Foley III ordered the media to not use her name.
Witness No. 2 said she stayed with Crow until paramedics came.
"I wanted her to know she's not alone - she wasn't by herself," the witness said.
Crow was shot in a hail of bullets as she drove away from the party at the Melrose YMCA in Walnut Hills. Witnesses described it as a drive-by shooting. Two other teens were wounded and survived.
Rico Mosley, 19, is on trial for murder. Police say Mosley fired the shot that killed Crow, though they say they believe gang members in moving vehicles fired four or five guns and sprayed the area with up to 60 shots.
Crow’s family and friends sobbed as they viewed photos of the dead teen’s SUV and listened to other witnesses and more than a dozen 911 calls on the first day of testimony.
Two of Crow’s friends from Purcell Marian High School told WCPO they were comforted to hear that someone was at Crow’s side.
“The main thing we were glad to hear was the fact that Kelsie wasn’t alone,“ Bynasia Thomas said outside the Hamilton County Courthouse. “She had somebody there with her. She didn’t suffer … Somebody had a heart, and tried to help her … We were really happy somebody was there."
Witness No. 2 said she told police she saw a white truck pulling out of the lot when shots were fired.
Out of 18 911 calls, two said they saw the shooting.
"It was a drive by and the shooters were in a white van," one caller said.
Defense attorney Clyde Bennett III challenged the validity of several 911 calls and disputed a police officer’s testimony that the street was well lit.
Bennett contends that police don’t know who fired the fatal shot and they have no evidence to prove it was Mosley.
A District 4 officer testified he went to the scene before the shootings after a radio call about a large crowd outside YMCA. He said 30 people were loitering there.
“I remember telling the people on the steps that they had to move on. We remained in the area,” the officer said.
Once the crowd dispersed, the officers left. The shooting started 19 minutes later.
Outside the courthouse, Thomas and Paige Haufield, another of Crow’s friends, said they had other plans and didn’t go to the party.
“Kelsie went to the party. That's when hell started for us. Nothing has been the same since," Haufield said.
