Defendant tells jury he didn’t shoot pastor
Girlfriend gives conflicting testimony during murder trial
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Roger Reed took the witness stand Thursday afternoon to testify in his own defense, saying he did not shoot 57-year-old Prospect Park Baptist Church pastor Don Smith.
Reed, 25, said that on Halloween night 2014, he and his girlfriend, Lashonda Williams, walked to a Hickory Hill-area ATM. He said they had argued because Williams signed into his Facebook account and discovered he had communicated with his former girlfriend.
Williams walked away and got into a strange vehicle, Reed testified. As he was walking back to his father’s apartment, the car pulled up with Smith dead in the vehicle, Reed said.
Assistant District Attorney Glen Baity questioned Reed about who could have been operating the vehicle.
“I assumed that she was driving the car,” Reed said.
“On the passenger side?” Baity asked. “Yes sir,” Reed said. “And this dead man was operating the foot pedal?” Baity asked. “No, sir,” Reed said. Reed’s testimony came a day after Williams testified that the pastor was killed following a prostitution deal with her and Reed.
Williams, 25, testified that the preacher drove by them three or four times looking at them, and then asked what they were trying to do. She said the pastor wanted sex with both of them and said he had $40. She said they both touched him sexually, and then Reed shot him. She said Reed planned to carjack someone to drive back to Greenville, Mississippi, where they are from.
Reed and Williams were located days later in Greenville with the pastor’s car. His body was Roger Reed testifies Thursday during his trial in Judge James Lammey’s court. Reed is charged with the killing of pastor Don Smith in 2014. Reed denies claims that he shot Smith before stealing his car. found off Lichterman Road in the area of Winchester and Hickory Hill.
Reed denied having sex with the married pastor, and said he had no intention of going to Greenville. He said he saw $40 in the car’s cup holder but wasn’t aware of who it came from.
“Did you participate in any sex act with Mr. Smith?” asked Reed’s attorney, Juni Ganguli.
“No, sir,” Reed replied. “I did not.”
“Did you shoot Mr. Smith?” Ganguli said. “No, sir,” Reed said. The trial was to continue today.