MARIETTA, Ga. (CN) - The man charged with murdering a baby in a stroller counted down "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" before shooting the mother and then shooting the baby in the face, his co-defendant testified Thursday.
Fifteen-year-old Dominique Lang told the jury he was with De'Marquise Elkins, 17, when Elkins approached Sherry West on a Brunswick, Ga. street on March 21, and began a tug-of-war for West's purse.
Lang, who will be tried separately for the felony murder of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago, claims he was not present when Elkins shot the baby, but that he saw Elkins hit West in the head with a gun, then shoot her in the leg, and he heard the final shot as he ran away.
"Marquise confronted Miss West. He walked up to her and asked her, 'Give me your purse,'" Lang testified.
Lang said Elkins demanded the purse two times.
"She didn't give him the purse, so he reached in his pocket for the gun and pulled it out," Lang said.
"He struck Miss West in the face with the gun. He asked for the purse a third time; he tried to reach for the purse.
"He threatened the baby. He counted down five seconds: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, then she stopped him. He asked for the purse again. She didn't give it to him."
Lang testified that Elkins shot West in leg, and that as he, Lang, ran away, he heard a third shot but did not see Elkins shoot the baby, Antonio Santiago.
Sometimes defiant, at times barely audible, Lang admitted he'd lied in previous statements.
After a barrage of questions about his inconsistent statements on whether Elkins had a gun hidden in his pants, whether he knew Elkins before March 21, and being told of a video that showed him "practicing" what to tell investigators - more than 16 lies, according to Glynn County Public Defender Jonathan Lockwood - Lang broke down, saying: "I lied, I lied, I lied, I lied."
Defense attorneys spent more than five hours challenging the memories of Dominique Lang and his third cousin, Joe Lang, both of whom have said under oath that De'Marquise Elkins is the sole murderer.
Early Thursday, Lockwood was ready to resume his interrogation of Joe Lang, who was on the stand when the trial was recessed Wednesday.
But Glynn County Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley had a few words for the defense team before the jury was seated.
"We have a 15-year-old; his mother is incarcerated, and from previous testimony, he really didn't have a place a live. He slept in one place, then he slept in another. He told the court he wasn't in school the day of the murder because he didn't have any clean clothes," Judge Kelley said.
"The court has a rule of duty to protect him from embarrassment. He has no criminal support here. Yesterday he shut down when he was questioned because he could not remember where he was sleeping that night.
"I will allow the defense its cross-examination, but I'm not going to let you dwell on where he slept. How is that material?"
Pointedly, Kelley said, "If I have to, I will stop the witness and appoint an ad litem guardian to answer the questions."