Eyewitness fingers Stridiron
‘Boyah came out of the bushes and shot him’By DAVE CALDWELL, Staff Writer dcaldwell@minotdailynews.com
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The murder trial of a man accused of shooting Joshua Velasquez to death in the early morning hours of July 29 shifted into another gear Tuesday, as prosecutors called a witness who testified he saw Antonio Stridiron fire the shots.
Stridiron, 32, is charged with murder in the case. Another man, Bradley Davis, 27, is accused of aggravated assault in connection with a fight that immediately preceded the shooting.
Ward County State's Attorney John Van Grinsven called Rodney Robinson to the stand. Robinson testified that he had attended Davis' wedding on the afternoon of July 28. Sometime after the wedding he went to the home of a friend near Minot Air Force Base where he assisted in cooking food for a party there. Following that, he said he got a ride down to the wedding party at Davis' residence, at 127-6th St. SE. Robinson stayed in the front yard, he said, while many other partygoers were on the side and in the rear of the house.
It was while he was in the front yard that he said he first saw Velasquez.
"As I was sitting there, I saw Josh walk up from the street," Robinson said. He described Velasquez as a "cocky, football guy."
Robinson said that people immediately began to tell Velasquez to leave.
"Then they got in a fight Nino and Josh," Robinson said, referring to Davis by his nickname. Stridiron is also known as "Boyah."
"It was a fistfight at first, and then some kind of rake comes into action," Robinson said.
Prosecutors say Davis used a weed-cutting tool with a long handle and a serrated blade to assault Velasquez.
"He was swinging it at Josh, telling him to leave. Josh was stepping backwards, toward the street. From the street he goes into the alley."
Robinson said that from the time Velasquez got to the street until he was into the alley, he didn't think Davis hit him with the tool.
"Then in the alley, Nino swings it and Josh went down," Robinson said. "I turned and walked away.
"Then Boyah came out of the bushes and shot him."
Robinson said he ran out of the alley scared and left the area in a vehicle.
Van Grinsven asked Robinson if he was aware there was an allegation that Robinson was looking for a gun that night, to which Robinson answered he was.
"You are denying that allegation?" Van Grinsven said.
"Yes," said Robinson.
Davis' attorney, Josh Rustad, asked Robinson why authorities came to Robinson seeking a statement when Robinson didn't contact police.
"Other witnesses placed me there," Robinson replied.
Rustad asked whether Robinson had observed an altercation between Velasquez and someone from the swimming pool in the back yard. Prior witnesses have testified that Derrick Richardson also fought Velasquez that night in the side yard.
Robinson said the first fight he saw was between Davis and Velasquez.
"A couple of minutes into the fight, (Davis) picked the rake up," Robinson said. "There had to be 10, 15 people standing around."
Robinson said even after being struck, Velasquez was still trying to fight. Six or seven people followed the fight as it left the yard, but everyone but Velasquez, Davis and Robinson stopped at the entrance to the alley, he testified.
"He got hit one more that put him down," Robinson said.
Stridiron's attorney, Bob Martin, asked Robinson how friendly he was with Davis.
"You go to the firing range, don't you? You call each other 'cousin,' don't you?" Martin asked, both of which Robinson denied.
Martin asked Robinson if he had been looking for Davis' gun. Robinson said he had the day before, but only to borrow it for shooting at a friend's house.
"Are you claiming that you didn't go into the house that night looking for Bradley Davis' gun?" Martin said.
"Yes," Robinson answered.
Martin also had Robinson identify the gun apparently used in the shooting as belonging to Davis.
Martin then asked if Stridiron was in the group that crossed the street, to which Robinson answered he was not.
"He just came out of the bushes?" Martin asked.
"Yes," Robinson said.
"You didn't see Mr. Stridiron at all before the shooting?"
"No."
Robinson then admitted to Martin he didn't actually see Stridiron come out of the bushes, but that he felt it was a logical conclusion.
"There's nothing else over there he could've come through," Robinson said.
Martin then asked Robinson how he could positively identify Stridiron from 10 feet away in a dark alley. Robinson said between the low light and the muzzle flashes, he could see Stridiron.
Noting that Robinson was one of the only four people that far into the alley, Martin asked Robinson if police had tested his hands for gunshot residue, which Robinson said they did not do.
Another witness testified that she was the woman a witness said drove her car up to Velasquez's body that night.
Kristina Hovey testified she was dropped off after attending the Original bar in Minot at the home of her boyfriend down the block from Davis' party. She said Velasquez was dropped off some time thereafter and the two decided to go down to Davis'. Hovey said she went back inside to go to the bathroom and get another drink, but got sick due to what she admitted was intoxication. By the time she got cleaned up and came back out 15 minutes later, she said, someone told her something disturbing about Velasquez. She said she immediately went and got into her car, parked behind the residence at the other end of the same alley Velasquez was shot in.
She and another friend, Lacey Buechler, drove down the alley, stopping when they saw Velasquez's body.
"He was on his back and his left hand was up (in the air)," Hovey said. "I opened the car door and stepped out, I was overcome and fell on my knees."
"I was just crying and Lacey came out of the car and helped me back in," Hovey said. She said she was "10 to 15 feet" from the body. Martin has insinuated previously the crime scene was contaminated prior to being secured.
"Did you ever touch Joshua's person?" Van Grinsven asked.
"No," Hovey said.
Both Rustad and Martin inquired about blood found on Hovey's pants. She said she thought it was hers.
Martin pointed out that detectives had checked her legs for injury and found none, and that Hovey had offered three different explanations for the blood.
"It must be pretty nerve-racking to find blood on your pants right after a homicide," Martin said. "Isn't it entirely probable that your knees disturbed the area of the body?"
"Correct," Hovey responded.
Van Grinsven asked Hovey how much blood was on the pants.
"It was about the size of a pencil eraser," she said.
"When you got out of the car, the door was in front of you?" Van Grinsven asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Did you ever leave the door?" he asked.
"No," she replied.
"Then how did you come into contact with the body if you never left the door?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said.
"Then why did you need help into the car?" Martin asked.
"I was hysterical and having trouble standing," Hovey said.
Also taking the stand Tuesday was Amy Davis, wife of Bradley Davis, who testified that Stridiron and his girlfriend had stayed with them for a couple of weeks prior to moving into the other side of the duplex at 129-6th St. SE. Some of Stridiron's belongings were still in the Davis household at the time of the wedding party. One item, she testified, was a duffel bag that had, among other things, bullets in it. She testified she turned in the bag some time later after police failed to take it after searching the home after the shooting.
Amy Davis also testified that Bradley Davis picked up the garden tool during the argument with Velasquez, but put it back down and never used it.
"Somebody else picked it up when they went across the street," she said. She testified that not only did Bradley Davis not fight anyone that she could see, he didn't leave the front yard during the altercation that went across the street. She also testified she didn't hear any gunshots.
She said she had collapsed in the front yard, then gone next door with Stridiron's girlfriend.
Maybe five minutes later, she said, Stridiron came in.
"He had an object in his hand," Amy Davis said. "I believe it was a gun. He went into the back hallway, and I believe he went downstairs."
Martin asked her how long the duffel bag was in her possession before it was turned over to police.
"I told them about the green bag when I was still at the station (during questioning the night of the shooting)," she said.
"And Brad Davis never swung (the rake)?" Martin asked.
"Not that I saw," she replied.
"Where was Rodney Robinson?" Martin asked.
"I don't know," she replied.
"Was he in the group (that was fighting)?" he asked.
"I don't recall," she said.
Amy Davis also said she saw Stridiron run into the alley as she was going into 129.
"I saw him out of the corner of my eye," she said.
"How could you see that if you didn't turn and look?" Martin asked.
She explained it was at an angle where he was visible.
Also called Tuesday was Monica Marcellais, whose daughter Miranda Lafloe testified previously.
Marcellais said she saw Stridiron confront Velasquez with the gun prior to the fight with Richardson. She said she fled the scene with others later when the gunshots sounded, but that her daughter Hannah Lafloe was left behind. Marcellais said she went back later and found Hannah Lafloe crying in the bushes.
