The murder trial of a man who police say shot and killed a 12-year-old girl has ended.
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It is reported News Center 7 6:00it is now up to a jury to decide whether Antawan Benson is guilty or not.
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In August 2024, 12-year-old Isabella Carlos was shot to death as she slept in her bed.
About two weeks after the shooting, police arrested two brothers, Javon Connor and Benson.
Investigators said their gun missed its intended target.
Benson’s trial lasted a full five days, spread over two weeks.
Now the jury will review more than 200 exhibits and the accounts of more than a dozen eyewitnesses.
On Monday, the defense called a witness to the stand, a woman who said she dated Benson last summer.
Chanelle Pettigrew claims Benson couldn’t have been filming at her West Fairview home that day because he was on a video call with her from 11:45 p.m. to 1 a.m.
“When you spoke, did you see his face? Did he see your face?” the prosecution asked the witness.
“He saw my face and I saw his face,” Pettigrew said.
Prosecutors claimed that was impossible because cellphone data they provided showed that Benson’s phone was never touched during that period.
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“Since Antawan’s arrest, how many times have you called the police and said, ‘Hey, you locked up my brother and I’ve been on a video call with him?'” the prosecutor asked.
“No,” Pettigrew replied.
Each team of attorneys then must work to convince the jury that their version of what happened is true.
The defense asked the jury not to believe Maria Bailey’s testimony.
She told jurors she drove Benson and his brother to the scene, watched them walk away, heard gunshots and then spotted them running back to her car with guns in their hands.
“False witness identities, when someone testifies and lies, can lead to a wrongful conviction,” the defense said in closing arguments.
“You are the judge of what happened at 33 Fairview,” Montgomery County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Madzey said in closing arguments. “You get to decide whether to believe her and whether her story is consistent with all the evidence gathered during the investigation.”
Jury deliberations are currently underway and will continue until at least 8pm Monday night.
If they don’t reach a ruling, they are expected to be sent home and back to work on Tuesday.
News Center Channel 7 will continue to pay attention to this matter.
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