Witness recounts how dying officer held his hand
They had gone for beer just before midnight on Jan. 15, 2008, but moments later Herbie Durham was holding the hand of a dying police officer who his friend allegedly had just shot, according to a witness in a death penalty trial.
Testimony began Tuesday in the capital case against William Woodard, charged with murdering two off-duty police officers — Eric Barker and Ricky Bryant — at an apartment complex in a “high-crime area” of DeKalb County where they were moonlighting.
Woodard’s attorney, Dwight Thomas, told jurors during morning opening statement that Woodard shot Barker and Bryant in self-defense because the two DeKalb County police officers were beating him. Thomas promised Woodard would tell his side of the story before the trial is over.
Woodard, 34, has pleaded not guilty.
The Victory Crossing Apartments were known to be dangerous, testified Michael Williams, an investigator for the DeKalb County district attorney, who called it a “high crime” area. Another witness, Michelle Payne, testified “everybody” there carried guns.
Police said Woodard was armed that night. One witness said Woodard always carried a Bible and his “baby,” a gun.
Durham said he was giving Woodard, a friend from high school, and his cousin a ride home but first, Woodard wanted to buy some beer.
But it was after 11:45 p.m. and nearby alcohol sales were prohibited, so they visited a second-floor Victory Crossing apartment — called a “shot house” — where they could get alcohol after hours.
They were about to drive away when the two uniformed officers approached Durham’s car, saying they smelled marijuana, according to testimony and police accounts.
Durham gave Barker his licence but Woodard did not, leading Bryant to pull him from the car and begin to search him.
Barker ran toward the passenger side of the car as Woodard and Bryant began to struggle and almost immediately, Durham said, shots were fired.
Durham said he dropped to the floor under the dashboard while Woodard’s cousin in the backseat exited the car and ran.
Durham testified that he didn’t see where Woodard went next. But prosecutors say he initially ran after shooting both officers but then came back to finish them off.
Durham testified he heard about eight shots. He got out of the car once the shooting stopped and saw the officers on the ground.
“One of them I knew wasn’t going to make it. But the one I thought was Barker, I hoped he would,” said Durham.
Durham, who was initially accused with murder but charges were dropped, said he touched Barker’s hand and the dying officer gripped his fingers.
“The other officer held my hand until he took his last breath,” Durham said.
