GREENSBORO — Arthur Burton III testified Thursday that he got everything he wanted from the Aman Mini Mart on Nov. 25, 2006.
After he and two other masked men stormed into the store at gunpoint, he told jurors he shoved a shotgun in the clerk’s face.
“He was pleading for his life. He said 'Don’t shoot.’ and I said 'Nobody is going to shoot you, dude,’” Burton told jurors at the murder trial of his co-defendant, 20-year-old Raytheon Williams.
“I got what I came for, and I wanted to leave. I turned toward the door and a shot rang out.”
That shot came from Williams, Burton said on the stand.
The group ran to a waiting car parked behind the store and drove off as 50-year-old Satwinder Singh was left on the floor by the counter, propped against a wall, bleeding to death.
Singh was shot in front of his 13-year-old son and a store employee. He died later at the hospital.
For Williams, whose street name is “Beans,” prosecutor Robert Enochs said the man got his cut of the $500 or so taken from the store.
Even more importantly, witnesses testified that Williams got something even more valuable to him — the respect of fellow gang members and a rank in the Bloods for killing someone.
Jurors are set this morning to begin deliberations on Williams’ fate on charges of first-degree murder, robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The trial, which has lasted three days, detailed a plot Williams, Burton and two other men had to rob someone that night.
Driven around by Burton’s girlfriend, Brittany Price, the group went to Walmart to get ski masks, and later, to a Family Dollar store for gloves.
Multiple witnesses and statements place the group inside the convenience store with guns to commit a robbery.
A medical examiner and police testified Singh died as a result of that robbery.
Enochs said those two facts are enough to convict Williams on the murder charge, under state laws that show the shooting happened while the group committed a felony.
In North Carolina, that equates to each party in the robbery being responsible for the murder, regardless of who fired the shot.
Defense Attorney Matt Stockdale argued to jurors there were numerous inconsistencies in witnesses’ testimony.
Many of the co-defendants received plea deals that reduced or eliminated charges in exchange for their testimony, which Stockdale argued fueled a series of confusing statements that jumbled details and events of that night.
He said the inconsistencies didn’t equate to proof beyond a reasonable doubt that his client is guilty.
Burton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery charges in exchange for his testimony.
The trial is to resume at 9:30 a.m. today.
Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com
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