Surviving Mormon missionary testifies in shooting trial

CHESAPEAKE

Morgan W. Young was on one knee, writing down the name and number of a man they had met on Elkhart Street while proselytizing.

Fellow Mormon missionary Joshua Heidbrink was by his side as they prepared to end their day on the streets of Deep Creek on the day after New Year's 2006.

They saw a man up the street, backing away from a house with one arm extended. There was a gunshot. Then the hooded man with a gun ran toward them.

"It was very quick," Heidbrink testified Wednesday in Chesapeake Circuit Court. He said he recalled two flashes. The first sent him to the ground.

"Then I saw another flash and then I heard a bang from a pistol," he said.

The second flash sent the 21-year-old Young face-first to the rain-soaked pavement. He had been shot in the head.

Heidbrink tried to wake his companion, but there was no response. He went for help at the nearby Charity House.

"I opened up my raincoat and suit coat and saw the blood running down my chest," said Heidbrink. He had been shot in the shoulder.

Heidbrink was a prosecution witness in the trial of James Boughton Jr., 21, who is charged with first-degree murder, malicious wounding, attempted malicious wounding and three counts of use of a firearm.

Police had shown Heidbrink a photo lineup of six people after the shooting.

"I could not identify anybody," he testified.

Commonwealth's Attorney Nancy Parr and Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney D.J. Hansen used the testimony of another witness, 19-year-old Mario Felton, in an attempt to tie Boughton to the shootings.

Felton and Boughton had gone to the Elkhart Street duplex of Gregory "Life" Banks Jr. They lay in wait for Banks outside his home, Felton said. Felton and Banks were feuding over $80 in drug money.

"Why where you going to go over there?" Hansen asked.

Felton replied: "To beat him up."

Boughton had a gun that night and wore a black hoodie, Felton said. Boughton was waiting at one end of the house, while Felton waited behind the other end of the duplex.

Felton testified that he ran away when he heard a car coming. As he ran, he noticed two white men with a black man on the street nearby, he said.

He continued to run, then heard a single shot, he said. Then there were two more. Then, he said, Boughton ran up behind him yelling a racial slur, and said "I got them. I got them," he testified.

Felton admitted to hiding in a shed the 9 mm handgun he said Boughton was carrying. He also gave police a statement when they approached him about his actions that night.

"I told them that I shot the gun three times," he testified.

He said that was a lie to cover for Boughton, a friend he often referred to as "Sleep."

"I was trying to protect Sleep, then I started thinking: For what?" he testified.

Andrew Sacks, Boughton's attorney, is expected to cross examine Felton today.

John Hopkins, (757) 222-5221, john.hopkins@pilotonline.com