Fourteen-year-old Anthony was sitting on the couch watching his mom's boyfriend and some friends play Madden NFL when four armed men wearing ski masks stormed in.
He hunkered down on the couch, covered his head with his hands and prayed he'd be OK.
Within seconds, shots rang out.
"It seemed like things had died down a little bit and I looked up to see if I could leave," the boy testified Wednesday.
When he opened his eyes he was looking right into the face of one of the gunmen.
"I thought 'Please don't let me get shot and I heard four shots go off," he said.
When he looked up again, he was alone, but for someone lying on the floor in front of the coffee table.
He jumped up, ran into his bedroom and called 911.
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The boy was the first witness to testify in the felony murder trial of Martin Reaves, 22, a barber and Pima Community College student with no prior criminal record.
His testimony was followed up by those who were playing the video game that day in the 5800 block of East 24th Street - Johnny Johnson Jr., Allen Belt and Cameron Smith.
Johnson testified that when the gunmen rushed in, one of them hit him in the head. He pushed the man away, grabbed his .40-caliber Smith & Wesson off a nearby table and "went to work."
According to authorities, Johnson killed one of the invaders, Michael White, a 20-year-old from Kansas City, Mo., and seriously wounded Heulon Brown, a 21-year-old from Sacramento, Calif.
Johnson, who had been shot several times, said he then ran outside and pounded on neighbors' doors hoping someone would call an ambulance. When he arrived back at the scene, he saw the boy being loaded into an ambulance.
Belt testified he had three-quarters of a pound of marijuana in the apartment that day because he sometimes sold it to friends.
Ashton Walker, 26, was arrested Aug. 27, 2010, two days after the shooting. Brown, 23, was arrested after being discharged from the hospital Sept. 3, 2010, and Reaves turned himself in Sept. 4, 2010.
Reaves, Brown and Walker are each charged with first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, which says people can be charged with murder if someone dies during the commission of certain felonies.
Brown is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 31 and Walker on Feb. 22.
Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields is presiding.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
