Defendant will testify in Somerset murder trial, attorney says
SOMERSET, Pa. — Jamie McVicker, accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Brittney Kyle and attempting to kill her boyfriend in February of last year, will take the stand during his trial, his attorney said Wednesday.
According to police, Kyle and her boyfriend, Tyrell Ferguson, went to McVicker’s house to pick up Kyle’s cats. She and McVicker had recently separated after a long-term relationship.
According to prosecutors, Ferguson called 911 from the car outside McVicker’s house after Kyle started screaming that she had been hit.
According to police, McVicker started shooting at the car after Kyle attempted to get inside, with one bullet hitting and killing her and another injuring Ferguson.
During opening arguments, Somerset County Assistant District Attorney Hannah Myers told the jury that the commonwealth will attempt to prove that McVicker intentionally killed Kyle and that he wanted to kill Ferguson.
McVicker’s attorney, Jerome Kaharick, told the jury that we will attempt to show that McVicker was acting in self-defense. He also said that McVicker will testify that he didn’t call 911 after the shooting because he was worried that a relative of Ferguson’s worked for the Pennsylvania State Police and that calling 911 could put him in danger.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, prosecutors played tapes of Ferguson’s 911 call, which captured in unsettling detail the moments of the shooting. Family members cried in court as they twice had to listen to the raw recordings booming through the courtroom.
The commonwealth had not rested by the end of Wednesday. The trial is scheduled to end by next Friday.
If convicted of first-degree murder, McVicker faces life in prison.
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