NORFOLK, Va. — Witnesses continued to testify Wednesday in the case against Keith Bryant.
He’s accused of shooting and killing William and Mary football player Nate Evans outside of a house party near ODU in 2019.
The Commonwealth argues Bryant pulled the trigger while watching over a drug deal involving his friend Kri’Shawn Beamon. Bryant’s attorneys argue it was Beamon himself who killed Evans.
Wednesday, the jury heard from a cellular data analyst who placed Bryant’s phone in the area where Evans was killed that night.
The FBI analyst said cellphone towers pinged Bryant’s phone near the location of the party around the time of the shooting. The towers picked up the phone again later that night in Portsmouth in the Churchland area.
Beamon, who is charged with second-degree murder and awaits his own trial in the shooting, said Bryant confessed to shooting Evans to protect Beamon during the drug transaction. Beamon said Bryant made that confession in a private conversation at a different party in Portsmouth later that evening.
Norfolk Police arrested Beamon shortly after the shooting in 2019 and from the beginning of the trial, Bryant’s attorneys have said after sitting in jail for three years, Beamon then pointed the finger at Bryant to use as a “get out of jail card.” Beamon argued against that phrasing. The Commonwealth said they did not enter any sort of agreement to reduce Beamon's potential sentence.
The jury also learned Beamon’s cellphone was recovered at the scene—Beamon has acknowledged he was there that night to buy marijuana from the football player. Detectives say they preserved the phone, but when it briefly regained a signal while they were extracting data, someone wiped the phone.
The jury also heard from the man Beamon said drove him away from the scene that night. That witness claims he never interacted with Beamon and did not have a car. That witness' credit cards and ID were found near the crime scene.
Bryant's attorneys, James Broccoletti and Mario Lorello, also allege while in jail, Beamon told the man in the cell next to him that he killed Evans himself. Beamon denies that conversation ever happened, but the defense says they plan to call that man as a witness.
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On Tuesday, the jury heard emotional testimony from Evans' childhood friend who was with him the night he died.
He said he and Evans drove to meet Beamon, also known as ‘Pocket,’ at the house party on 43rd St in Norfolk to sell one pound of marijuana. The witness said neither of them were armed, but Beamon said he heard someone cock back a gun, but never saw one.
The friend said Beamon ran from the car with the weed before paying, and Evans chased after him. Beamon claims he left the weed behind and thought Evans was trying to rob him. Multiple neighbors report hearing three to four gunshots. Evans' friend recalls hearing someone yell "nobody f**** with Pocket, b****" when the shots rang out. The friend recalls seeing a "tall African American man" watching over the transaction.
Detectives say the gun used to kill Evans was found a few weeks later in Suffolk after it was used in a separate shooting. The defense claims Norfolk Police didn't interview anyone in that car as to how the gun got there.
Bryant is charged with first degree murder and his trial is expected to last until Friday. Thursday, the jury is expected to hear from the lead detective in the case. The defense argues the police work after the shooting was "troubling." The jury is expecting to hear more on that argument, as well.
Beamon’s trial is set to begin in June and he faces a life sentence plus 48 years if convicted on the murder and robbery charges.