Opelika, Ala. — Traumatized Iraqi war veteran or cold-blooded killer?
A Lee County jury must decide which is responsible for the death of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk of Marietta.
Defense and prosecuting attorneys laid out their cases Friday in the capital murder trial of 26-year-old Courtney Lockhart of Smiths Station, Ala. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty.
Burk, a 2007 graduate of Walton High School, was found shot along a rural section of Ala. 147, less than four miles from the Auburn University campus, on March 4, 2008. She died later that night at East Alabama Medical Center.
Her father’s testimony was the most emotional of the day.
“She was 18 and had her whole life ahead of her,” James Burk said.
He talked about seeing his daughter’s dead body on a gurney, breaking down and kissing her on the forehead.
“They didn’t have to ask me if it was her — they knew from the look on my face,” Burk said. “She looked like an angel. I couldn’t believe it. She was a happy girl, a shining star. She lost her whole future.”
Lockhart was arrested three days later in Phenix City, Ala.
“Courtney Lockhart approached her with a pistol, forced her into her own car and left with her,” Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett said in his opening statement.
“They drove around and in the process the defendant removed her clothing except for her socks. At that point she realized she wasn’t going to make it and she made a heroic effort to save her life and jumped out of that moving vehicle, and in the process, the defendant shot her.”
Defense attorney Jeremy Armstrong painted Lockhart as a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, saying witnesses will detail how Lockhart changed after his tour of duty in Iraq.
“You will hear how he was a different guy when he came back than when he left. Courtney knew something was wrong, he just didn’t know what.”
Armstrong also said the facts would show that Lockhart did not intend to kill Burk.
Burk’s mother, Vivian Guerchon, cried openly in the front row of the gallery as witness Savannah Benford described Lauren gasping for breath and shaking as she lay face up in the road that night.
More than 15 members of the Burk family were in the courtroom.
Witnesses talked about spotting Burk naked in the road, her body covered in “road rash” from her jump from her speeding car and a bullet wound in her left shoulder.
Others talked about attempts to save her life through CPR.
Her car was later found burning near a band practice field on the Auburn University campus.
During questioning after his arrest, Lockhart confessed to the Auburn killing and admitted other crimes in east Alabama and west Georgia, police said.
Lockhart pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Check AJC.com for updates.
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