Terry Horton testified Tuesday he didn’t know if Dorell Townsend wanted to fight him inside a 5th Avenue Gary gas station moments before Townsend was fatally shot.
Aaron Sawyer, now 26, of Gary — Horton’s half-brother and co-defendant — is on trial this week for fatally shooting Townsend, 22, of Gary.
Prosecutors say Sawyer gunned him down without an argument or sign he was a threat, while defense lawyer John Cantrell is arguing it was self-defense.
Townsend, who was armed, and his girlfriend were at the counter first. On the way out, she brushed into Horton and she briefly said, “Excuse me.”
“What’s up,” Townsend told Horton.
“What do you mean, ‘What’s up,’” Horton responded.
“Y’all tweaking,” Townsend told Horton.
Moments later, Horton said he didn’t hear what Townsend said and turned to ask when gunfire rang out. Horton testified Townsend didn’t appear to reach for his gun, nor had it in his hand.
“I didn’t (feel) like he was aggressive,” Horton said.
On cross-examination, Cantrell asked Horton how he was dissecting what was happening. Asking “What’s up,” was “fighting words”, the lawyer said. Horton had pulled his pants up while moving toward Townsend as if anticipating a physical confrontation.
Once Townsend was shot, Horton told Sawyer to shoot out the gas station glass, so they could escape before the cops arrived.
Prosecutors played the gas station video Tuesday. A group of children went inside just before Townsend was shot.
Sawyer was arrested in December 2022.
Horton pleaded guilty to assisting a criminal, a Level 5 felony, in December 2020. He is facing up to three years in prison in exchange for his testimony.
Gary Police were called at 5:30 p.m. May 31, 2020, to a gas station on the 2700 block of W. 5th Avenue. Townsend was inside, lying by the front doors.
The crime scene was “chaotic,” according to one responding police officer. A “large” crowd gathered, while one family member managed to get past the crime tape and walked up to the gas station’s doors before they were grabbed and removed, according to the affidavit.
Security footage showed Townsend and a woman pulled into the gas station at 5 p.m. Just after, Horton and Sawyer pulled up and followed the pair inside, charges state.
Sawyer appeared to adjust a gun. Horton “traded” words with Townsend.
Sawyer pulled a gun from his pants. He “stopped as three children (and an older woman) walked by,” then shot Townsend multiple times, the affidavit alleges.
The woman, near the doors, ran to her car as glass shattered around her, charges state.
After a news release went out, other Gary officers identified the second man — wearing red pants, a red hat and a white shirt — as Horton. The alleged shooter — who was wearing black shorts, a black shirt and hat — was not initially known.
A tip led detectives to Sawyer’s relative, who was incarcerated. Sawyer was listed as the only man in his contacts.
Comparing mugshots to the surveillance photos appeared to show the same person. An ATF agent using facial recognition software told detectives he matched it to Sawyer, charges show.
mcolias@post-trib.com
