Brothers on trial in drive-by shooting deaths of bystanders

The lawyer for one of two brothers on trial in a fatal drive-by shooting essentially pitted the siblings against each other Wednesday when he told a jury his client didn’t have a motive — but his brother did. In opening arguments, defense lawyer Peter Schmer warned jurors not to convict Christopher Miller if they find his brother, Lavon Shinn, guilty just because they’re on trial together.

Miller and Shinn are charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the April 16, 2016, deaths of Gino Nicolas, 24, and Tanya Skeen, 46. Four other people were hurt. Shooters fired a “barrage of bullets” at a crowd of people outside a Parramore apartment complex on Conley Street about an hour after Shinn was involved in an altercation with three men at a downtown Orlando club, prosecutor James Altman said. Club video footage shows three men attacking Shinn, ripping his shirt. All four men were barred from the club.

A witness who saw Shinn afterward testified that Shinn told a friend, “I’m gonna get him after this.” Shinn, accompanied by Miller, borrowed his friend’s brown Chevy Malibu to find and shoot his attackers, Altman said. Nicolas, a nonprofit worker, was an innocent bystander. Skeen, a mother of three, was in her apartment putting away groceries.

Shinn looked at his brother and frowned while Schmer spoke. Miller looked straight ahead.

Tests on shell casings at the scene matched a gun police found under Miller’s bed when they searched the apartment he shared with Shinn, Altman said.

Shinn’s lawyer, Julie Hampton, disputed that her client was involved in the shooting. She accused police of rushing to judgment and said they were determined to make the evidence fit against Shinn and Miller.

The trial is expected to continue into next week.