Jury hears ‘chilling’ audio of gunshots that killed woman
NORRISTOWN >> An audio recording that captured the last 45 seconds of a Pottstown woman’s life was played a second time for a jury weighing the fate of the man accused of gunning her down.
Pottstown Detective Heather Long, testifying Tuesday at the homicide trial of Bobbie “Steels” Mitchell Jr., said the audio recording was captured by a home surveillance system on Easter Sunday 2018 in the area of the 300 block of Johnson Street where 23-year-old Siani Overby was found dead.
Described by Montgomery County prosecutors in court papers as “chilling,” the audio recording appeared to capture
Overby saying, “please, please” and crying. Fourteen seconds later, a gunshot is heard and Overby’s screams became louder as she appeared to address her assailant.
The recording captured a second gunshot, occurring nine seconds after the first shot and Overby’s screams intensified. After a third gunshot there is silence.
It was the second time the jury heard the audio recording during the trial. Deputy District Attorney Samantha Cauffman initially played the recording for the jury during her opening statement on Monday.
On Tuesday, the jury also viewed the grainy video portion of the home surveillance recording, which briefly depicted Overby running away from an alleged assailant.
Cauffman, and co-prosecutor Richard Bradbury Jr., relied on the audio recording to show the assailant’s alleged specific intent to kill or malice.
An autopsy determined Overby suffered three gunshot wounds, to the leg, chest and head, and Cauffman suggested the audio recording showed the gunshots occurred in that order and that the final shot to the head silenced Overby.
Mitchell, 37, of the 200 block of Oak Street, faces charges of first- and thirddegree murder and possession of a prohibited weapon in connection with the April 1, 2018, gunshot slaying of Overby, his former girlfriend.
First-degree murder is an intentional killing and a conviction of the charge carries a mandatory life prison term. Third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, carries a possible maximum sentence of 20-to-40-years in prison.
Prosecutors suggested to the jury that Mitchell fatally shot Overby because he feared she would alert police about his illegal drug dealing and firearm selling if he didn’t agree to pay child support and continue their relationship.
But defense lawyer Evan Hughes argued prosecutors don’t have sufficient evidence to prove Mitchell is the killer. Prosecutors, Hughes argued, have no DNA tests, fingerprints or eyewitnesses to link Mitchell to the crime.
The trial before Judge Todd D. Eisenberg is expected to last about three days and jurors could get the case to deliberate as early as Wednesday.
The homicide investigation began when authorities responded to the 300 block of Johnson Street at 1:58 a.m. for a report of a woman screaming and shots fired. Investigators arrived to find Overby, suffering fatal wounds from multiple gunshots, lying on the sidewalk next to a fence.
“She was lying face up, her hands where above her head,” county Detective Edward Schikel, who processed the crime scene, testified, adding a bullet that traveled through the victim’s head and neck struck the strap of a purse that Overby wore over her shoulder.
Schikel testified he recovered a cellphone next to the victim’s legs. That phone, after a review of its contents, was later determined to belong to Mitchell and revealed text messages between Mitchell and the victim less than an hour before her murder, according to testimony.
County Detective Eric Nelson, an expert in firearms identification, testified investigators recovered three 9 mm fired cartridge casings near Overby’s body.
“All three were fired from the same unknown firearm,” said Nelson, referring to a ballistics examination.
Testimony revealed detectives did not recover the alleged murder weapon during the investigation.
Detectives alleged Mitchell fled from the Pottstown area after the killing and was captured April 3 in Waterbury, Conn.
Denequa Butler, Mitchell’s current girlfriend, according to her April 3, 2018, statement, told detectives she had a phone conversation with Mitchell about 2 a.m. April 1 during which, for the first time, she learned from Mitchell that they were going to travel immediately to Connecticut, where his father lived, and he picked her up in Norristown at 5 a.m. to make that trip.
When she testified on Tuesday, Butler appeared to try to back off that statement, claiming the trip to Connecticut had been discussed previously, that she felt under duress during questioning and that her statement was taken out of context and recorded incompletely.
But county Detective Todd Richard testified he recorded Butler’s statement word for word.
Waterbury Police Officer Larry Hoffler Jr. testified that when Mitchell was taken into custody on April 3 on the murder warrant he had $3,000 in his pocket and $119,900 cash was found in the trunk of the vehicle he was driving at the time.
According to court papers, Mitchell allegedly told detectives he was involved in the sale of “high grade marijuana” and has “drug connections” that he referred to as the “cartel.” Mitchell allegedly claimed the cash found in the trunk was proceeds of his illegal drug sales, according to court papers.
“All three were fired from the same unknown firearm.”
- Montgomery County Detective Eric Nelson