{"id":1117,"date":"2012-06-05T14:26:30","date_gmt":"2012-06-05T18:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=1117"},"modified":"2012-06-05T14:26:30","modified_gmt":"2012-06-05T18:26:30","slug":"coatesville-murder-trial-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=1117","title":{"rendered":"Coatesville murder trial begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defendant accused of fatal, retaliatory shooting in 2010<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/span><\/strong>, Managing Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dante L. Lawrence faces charges that include first-degree murder.<\/p><\/div>\n

The fact that a Coatesville homicide defendant fled to Georgia should not be held against him, his defense attorney said yesterday in his opening statement to the jury.<\/p>\n

Michael J. Skinner told the panel that his client, Dante L. Lawrence, 30, \u201cdidn\u2019t know what to do. He had the opportunity to go south and he took it.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. marshals apprehended Lawrence near Atlanta in August, seven months after police said he fatally shot Randy Vaughn in the 200 block of Diamond Street on Jan. 5, 2010. Skinner said Lawrence had planned to turn himself in but wanted to get money to secure an attorney first. \u201cKeep an open mind until you\u2019ve heard both sides,\u201d Skinner said.<\/p>\n

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Carlos Barraza, contends that Lawrence, whose criminal history includes a guilty plea to drug charges in 2001, retaliated against Vaughn, 31, after the victim attempted to burglarize Lawrence\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Tapes of the 911 calls, which were played for the jury, suggested a chaotic scene as witnesses recalled hearing a succession of shots. \u201cHe was shot,\u201d one caller told the operator. \u201cOh my God \u2026 oh my God, he died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amanda Rodriguez testified that she was in a nearby parking lot between Second and Third Streets with a friend when she heard shots. \u201cWe knew it was close,\u201d she testified, adding that she saw a tan SUV-type truck speed from the scene. She said she put her vehicle in reverse and saw a body lying in the street.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said she got out of her Chevy Tahoe because she feared an approaching car might hit it. She said she was able to stop the car, and she and her friend and the other car\u2019s two occupants waited at the scene until police arrived.<\/p>\n

The trial before Senior Judge Thomas G. Gavin is expected to continue through the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defendant accused of fatal, retaliatory shooting in 2010 By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, CoatesvilleTimes.com The fact that a Coatesville homicide defendant fled to Georgia should not be held against him, his defense attorney said yesterday in his opening statement to the jury. Michael J. Skinner told the panel that his client, Dante L. Lawrence, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[20,24,348],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county","tag-coatesville","tag-homicide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}