MARIETTA, Ga. (CN) - Attorneys for the teenager accused of murdering a baby in a stroller tried unsuccessfully Wednesday to exclude testimony from the teen's accused accomplice.
Dominique Lang will be tried separately for felony murder of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago and the aggravated assault and robbery of the baby's mother, Sherry West.
Lang testified in a motion hearing Wednesday out of the presence of the jury, then submitted to questions before the jury in the murder trial of De'Marquise Elkins, who is accused of shooting the baby in the face after the mother refused his demand for money.
Lang looked nervous as he took the stand.
His attorney standing by, Lang answered rapid-fire questions from Glynn County Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Lockwood concerning inconsistencies in Lang's identification of Elkins as the shooter.
The defense argued during the motion hearing that Lang is not a credible witness and the jury should not hear him testify.
Lockwood addressed Lang's "messed-up memory," telling the court that Lang had testified earlier that he had never met anyone from the district attorney's office.
"You've never seen these three people?" Lockwood asked, pointing to the prosecution's table.
"No," Lang replied.
Under questioning by the defense team, Lang admitted lying at least four times to Brunswick City and Glynn County police about his relationship to Elkins, how they met and how long he knew Elkins before the attempted robbery and murder.
Lang admitted being at the crime scene when the baby was shot, but said: "I didn't kill no baby."
Glynn County police claim Lang identified De'Marquise Elkins as the person who attacked Sherry West and killed her son, picking him from a photo lineup on March 22, a day after the killing.
When Lockwood asked Lang on Wednesday whether the picture being entered into evidence was the same one shown to him during the evidentiary hearing, Lang replied, "I don't remember."
Lockwood responded, "So you are saying the one photo you saw of this person you've completely forgotten? Wasn't it an important photo?"
Lang replied: "It was, but I have been locked up for five months in a four-by-nine cell at YDC [Youth Detention Center] and I forgot about it."
Lang said at first that he was friendly with Elkins before March 21 - the date of the killing - then later Wednesday changed the story.
Lockwood asked: "This person that you were with, how many times had you seen him? How long were you with him?"
Lang replied softly: "Five minutes. Five minutes the first time I was with him. Five minutes the second time."
Lockwood: "When you saw him, were you able to get a good look at him?"
Lang: "Yes. I was with him less than an hour. Less than 30 minutes, around 15 minutes."
Lockwood: "So, the first time you saw him was on March 21?"
Lang: "Never seen this person before March 21."
Barely audible at times, Lang mumbled one- or two-word answers until Lockwood asked: "Do I aggravate you or make you nervous?"
Lang replied: "Yes sir."
"Is that why you are giving me these one-word answers?"
"Yes, sir. I just want to go home, sir. I don't want to be here."
Lang, Elkins and Sherry West are believed to be the only eyewitnesses to the killing.