De'Ondre White murder trial: Day two of witness testimony

AUSTIN, Texas - Day two of witness testimony in the murder trial of De’Ondre White picked up Wednesday morning. White is the suspected shooter in the 2021 Sixth Street mass shooting that killed Douglas Kantor and injured 14 others.

Witness testimony confirmed there were two groups from Killeen on Sixth Street the night of the shooting. This included De’Ondre White and his friends and another group with McKaylen Jackson and Tyshawn Degrate. Both were called into the courtroom Wednesday afternoon as witnesses.

The night of the shooting, Jackson says he saw Degrate get into it with another kid from Killeen named Jeremiah Tabb who was also with his own friends. Tabb’s friends included White.

Degrate told the jury Tabb was trying to fight him. When he threw his hands up in the air to say no, Degrate accidentally showed his gun tucked into his pants. He says that is when White fired his weapon in a spraying motion.

Degrate says he never shot off his own weapon. However, his friend Jackson says otherwise. After the shooting, Jackson says they all met up at their car, and he noticed Degrate’s gun clip was empty. 

Another witness with their group that night named Terranesha Thomas also mentioned Degrate told them in the car that he shot back to protect his friends.

This testimony goes against state attorneys opening statements claiming White was the only gunman the night of the mass shooting. Doug O'Connell, a lawyer who represents Douglas Kantor's family, told FOX 7 Austin contradicting testimony could be a problem.

"Mr. Jackson's testimony, even though he was called by the government, the prosecutors may not have been that helpful. He wasn't very clear at times, and, on cross-examination, defense attorney Bill Browning actually got him to say that he thinks Tyshawn actually fired some rounds from his handgun, which of course, doesn't help the government's theory of the case," he said.

COVERAGE OF DE'ONDRE WHITE MURDER TRIAL

• De'Ondre White murder trial: Opening statements, witness testimony
• Jury selection begins in De'Ondre White murder trial
• Sixth Street mass shooting: Victim's family speaks following opening statements

The medical examiner who conducted Douglas Kantor's autopsy also took the stand. She says Kantor was shot twice. One shot went through the torso and the other went through his left arm. Photos of the autopsy were shown to the jury and the ME says his death was ultimately the result of those wounds. 

During defense cross-examination, the ME mentioned she did not see any stippling on Kantor’s body. As a result, she says the shooter could have been at least a foot and a half to two feet away. The gunshot wounds also could have been a possible ricochet.

Both the state and defense spent around 2 hours questioning an APD detective with the forensic unit. He explained how he examined and extracted evidence from a phone including text messages, photos, and deleted items. None of that evidence was shown in court Wednesday afternoon.

A Killeen Police Officer says he was contacted by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force Austin Division with a murder warrant for White. He told the jury White barricaded himself inside his home for over an hour before giving himself up.

The trial picks up Thursday, August 31.