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Anthony Conner was waiting to turn left at the stop light on the corner of Bryant Station and New Circle roads about 5 p.m. on Jan. 25, 2003.
The off-duty Versailles cop was joking with his wife about White Castle hamburgers when he saw a black Jeep Cherokee barreling toward him out of a White Castle parking lot at the intersection.
Conner watched as the Jeep sped down Bryant Station Road. Then he saw the passenger rear door open and a dark-headed man fell out, tumbling onto the street.
"I'm not sure if he fell or if he was pushed," Conner told a jury today in first day of the murder trial for Robert Welch.
The man was later identified as David M. Tarango, or "Babies" to friends and family. Before Tarango's unusual exit from the Jeep, he had been shot three times, prosecutors said today. He later died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
Prosecutors believe that Welch, 20, the front-seat passenger in the Jeep that day shot Tarango over a botched robbery of 10 pounds of marijuana stashed in a popcorn tin.
If convicted of murder and robbery, the jury could give Welch the death penalty.
During opening arguments today, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Kathy Phillips said Welch and a friend, Willie Allen, 26, had arranged to buy 10 pounds of marijuana from Tarango earlier that Saturday. The two told another man, Stanley King, 30, that they only had enough money to buy two pounds of marijuana but we're planning on stealing the 10 pounds from Tarango.
Tarango and two friends, a man only identified in court as Marvin, and his cousin Adam Clemente, drove Clemente's Oldsmobile Cutlass to the White Castle parking lot on the corner of Bryant Station and New Circles roads, where Tarango had agreed to meet Welch and Allen, prosecutors said.
In a video-recorded interview played for the jury today, Clemente said his cousin climbed into the back of the black Jeep and then came back and got the popcorn tin packed with marijuana and went back to the Jeep. But before he returned to the Jeep, he told his cousin and Marvin that something wasn't right about the two men in the Jeep.
But he told Clemente that he was broke and decided to go ahead with the deal.
Before he got out of the car, Tarango picked up his gun, Clemente said. Marvin got out of the car a few minutes later and told Clemente there appeared to be a struggle inside the Jeep.
Clemente said he approached the car and tried to open the rear driver-side door but it was locked.
Clemente testified that the passenger shot at his cousin and then tried to shoot at him. Instead of hitting Clemente, the bullet went through the back passenger side window.
But Gene Lewter, Welch's lawyer, questioned why Clemente did not originally tell police that Tarango was dealing drugs. Lewter also pointed out that Clemente was currently serving time in another state and is a convicted felon.
Both Allen and King were originally indicted on murder charges in connection with Tarango's death, but later pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Neither man has been sentenced yet. They are expected to testify during the trial that is expected to wrap up this week.
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact: https://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/contact_us/
Website: https://www.kentucky.com/
The off-duty Versailles cop was joking with his wife about White Castle hamburgers when he saw a black Jeep Cherokee barreling toward him out of a White Castle parking lot at the intersection.
Conner watched as the Jeep sped down Bryant Station Road. Then he saw the passenger rear door open and a dark-headed man fell out, tumbling onto the street.
"I'm not sure if he fell or if he was pushed," Conner told a jury today in first day of the murder trial for Robert Welch.
The man was later identified as David M. Tarango, or "Babies" to friends and family. Before Tarango's unusual exit from the Jeep, he had been shot three times, prosecutors said today. He later died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center.
Prosecutors believe that Welch, 20, the front-seat passenger in the Jeep that day shot Tarango over a botched robbery of 10 pounds of marijuana stashed in a popcorn tin.
If convicted of murder and robbery, the jury could give Welch the death penalty.
During opening arguments today, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Kathy Phillips said Welch and a friend, Willie Allen, 26, had arranged to buy 10 pounds of marijuana from Tarango earlier that Saturday. The two told another man, Stanley King, 30, that they only had enough money to buy two pounds of marijuana but we're planning on stealing the 10 pounds from Tarango.
Tarango and two friends, a man only identified in court as Marvin, and his cousin Adam Clemente, drove Clemente's Oldsmobile Cutlass to the White Castle parking lot on the corner of Bryant Station and New Circles roads, where Tarango had agreed to meet Welch and Allen, prosecutors said.
In a video-recorded interview played for the jury today, Clemente said his cousin climbed into the back of the black Jeep and then came back and got the popcorn tin packed with marijuana and went back to the Jeep. But before he returned to the Jeep, he told his cousin and Marvin that something wasn't right about the two men in the Jeep.
But he told Clemente that he was broke and decided to go ahead with the deal.
Before he got out of the car, Tarango picked up his gun, Clemente said. Marvin got out of the car a few minutes later and told Clemente there appeared to be a struggle inside the Jeep.
Clemente said he approached the car and tried to open the rear driver-side door but it was locked.
Clemente testified that the passenger shot at his cousin and then tried to shoot at him. Instead of hitting Clemente, the bullet went through the back passenger side window.
But Gene Lewter, Welch's lawyer, questioned why Clemente did not originally tell police that Tarango was dealing drugs. Lewter also pointed out that Clemente was currently serving time in another state and is a convicted felon.
Both Allen and King were originally indicted on murder charges in connection with Tarango's death, but later pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Neither man has been sentenced yet. They are expected to testify during the trial that is expected to wrap up this week.
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact: https://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/contact_us/
Website: https://www.kentucky.com/
