Jurors watched the last moments of Tyquinn James’ life Thursday, as the murder trial of two Atlantic City brothers hit its second day.
James, 25, was shot at about 7:40 p.m. Feb. 10, 2013, outside a store in the 1300 block of Adriatic Avenue.
Malik and Mykal Derry are on trial for murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the case.
Surveillance video from that night shows James walking up to the store, taking a Pop-Tart out of his pocket and unwrapping it.
Seconds later, a man on a bike rides up, stretches out his right arm and shoots.
Three shots were fired, according to investigators.
James falls to his knees and then back, dead.
The man on the bike continues on. He is wearing a hoodie and the lower half of his face is covered.
The state says the man is Malik Derry, under direction of his older brother, Mykal.
The video was first shown publicly at the federal trial of both men, who were convicted for their roles in the drug-trafficking gang known as Dirty Blok, which was centered around Stanley Holmes Village.
The footage is disturbing, Malik Derry’s defense attorney, Joseph Liguori, warned jurors in his opening statement.
He asked that they not let emotion get in the way of seeing the facts in the case.
The tragic circumstances do not mean the Derrys are responsible, their defense attorneys said.
The evidence is not there, insisted Mykal Derry’s attorney, Ed Weinstock.
A similar bicycle, hoodie, mask and gun were found at an apartment linked to Mykal Derry. No DNA or fingerprints link the brothers, Liguori and Weinstock said.
Tyquinn James was outside a store eating a Pop-Tart at about 7:40 p.m. Feb. 10, 2013, when a man on a bike rode by and shot him three times. James, 25, fell to the ground dead. The bicyclist rode away. Video surveillance, wiretaps, a murder weapon and courtroom confessions will prove Malik Derry was the ... Read more
But Chief Assistant Prosecutor Erik Bergman says there is more than enough to point to the brothers, including Intercepted phone calls and text messages from that night.
Wiretaps were part of an FBI investigation into Dirty Blok, an allegedly violent drug-trafficking gang.
Both men are serving federal life sentences in that case.
Jurors who don’t know of that conviction, however, will decide if they planned and carried out James’ killing more than five years ago.
Testimony will resume Monday as the state continues presenting its case.
VIDEO CONTAINS FOOTAGE OF SHOOTING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTaw0PG4PFs&feature=youtu.be
