Torrance Davis watched as his cousin, Reginald Jerome Handy Jr., was shot in the back. He saw the alleged shooter, Alexander Crippen, approach the group gathered around the Laurel Street home in the late hours of May 26. He dove for cover as the gun was fired.
But what he didn't see or hear was any conversation between the men. That's because Davis says it never happened.
"I didn't say nothing to him, my cousin didn't say nothing to him, nobody said nothing to him," he said. "It's not over no cigarette."
Crippen has been indicted on charges of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting of Handy, a 22-year-old Greenbush resident, and stands accused of the attempted murder of Davis, 27, along with eight other related charges.
In accounts of the incident released by the Worcester County State's Attorney's Office and in charging documents filed in Worcester County District Court, shortly before 10:30 that night, Crippen approached a house in the 500 block of Laurel Street in Pocomoke City and asked a person sitting on the steps if he could buy some cigarettes.
"Handy ... confronted (Crippen). There were words that were exchanged between them," according to an unnamed source cited in documents filed by Detective Corp. Mike Lupiwok of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation.
At a news conference two days later -- shortly after authorities had apprehended Crippen in a Delmar hotel -- Pocomoke City Police Chief J.D. Ervin told reporters the two men "had a history with each other -- they didn't get along."
But according to Davis, Handy and Crippen weren't feuding and didn't even know each other.
Davis himself has a history of criminal convictions in Worcester County, according to court records. In 2003, he was fined $100 after being found guilty of second-degree assault. A year later, Davis was sentenced to five months in jail for second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
On May 26, after spending the day in Virginia with family, Handy and Davis were gathered with about a half-dozen others outside the Laurel Street home of a relative. From his vantage at the side of the house, Davis said he could see Crippen approaching.
"He just ran up and started shooting. There wasn't no words exchanged," he said. "I don't know how many shots it was, but it was a lot."
Worcester County State's Attorney Joel Todd said he disagreed, in part, with Davis' retelling.
"It's inappropriate for me to talk about the facts of the case, but I can tell you this is not information that the police made up," Todd said.
Whether Davis or the unnamed witness cited in court documents will testify at trial has yet to be determined, Todd said.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Sept. 8.
VIA: Delmarvanow.com
"nobody said nothing"-Typical of the loser mentality, lying even over a dead family member. First thing this cousin needs to be honest with the police and the second thing he needs to do is go and take an English language class!
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