A friend of the Brunswick man on trial for the murder of a 13-month-old testified Monday the defendant asked her to hide his gun after the toddler was shot.
Danielle Williams said the firearm allegedly belonging to De’Marquise Elkins was picked up later that day by his mother. Karimah Elkins, on trial along with her son, is accused of lying to police and throwing the .22-caliber handgun used to shoot Antonio Santiago into a salt-water pond north of Brunswick.
Antonio’s mother, Sherry West, was shot in the leg during the botched robbery attempt on March 21.
Williams acknowledged under cross-examination by the defense that she initially told Glynn County police that Elkins left nothing at her home.
“Later on you said he left something but you weren’t sure what it was,” said De’Marquise Elkins’ co-counsel Jonathan Lockwood. “Only after they threatened to put you in jail did you change your story.”
Williams isn’t the first witness to alter her narrative. De’Marquise Elkins’ alleged accomplice, 15-year-old Dominique Lang, admitted on the stand last week that he told more than a dozen lies to investigators in the hours after the fatal shooting.
Lang, whose trial has not yet been scheduled, played a pivotal role in leading investigators to Elkins, 18, who is charged with malice murder, felony murder, child cruelty, attempted armed robbery and multiple counts of aggravated assault.
Lang, 14 at the time, testified he heard Elkins count down from 5 as he pointed the gun in the direction of the baby’s stroller abnd shot him between the eyes. He was featured in a video re-enactment of the shooting prosecutors played for jurors on Friday.
Prosecutors say Antonio’s mother, West, will be their final witness. She’s expected to take the stand Tuesday.
The trial was moved to Marietta due to extensive publicity that has divided people in the coastal town, mainly along racial lines.
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