Testimony in the murder trial of Djuan McLaurin Sr. got underway Monday in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — The lone witness to a New Year’s Eve shooting that left a Lima man dead testified Monday that his father — Djuan McLaurin Sr. — shot and killed his friend, Sandros Boddie Jr., after a day of drinking and playing dominoes.
Djuan Wade-McLaurin, also known as Shawn, testified about the events during the afternoon and evening of Dec. 31 that culminated with his father arguing with Boddie about domino scores and and other sundry and mostly irrelevant differences before the argument turned deadly.
Shawn McLaurin said that as the arguments escalated his father retrieved a handgun from a microwave in the family garage, also referred to as a “man cave,” and laid it on a table. When Boddie took the gun and hid it, Shawn testified, his father retrieved a second gun from inside the household.
The argument continued, McLaurin testified, until Boddie reportedly started to walk toward the door and said, “If you’re going to shoot me, shoot me. If not, then I’m going home.”
“That’s when I saw my dad pull the trigger and shoot Sandros,” Shawn McLaurin said. “Then he (the defendant) tried to shoot me, but nothing happened; the gun malfunctioned.”
Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines asked Shawn McLaurin if he saw Boddie point a gun at anyone that evening. McLaurin said he did not.
The elder McLaurin is charged with two counts of murder, each unclassified felonies, and one count of felonious assault in connection with Boddie’s death. Thines said testimony during the trial will come from law enforcement officers, detectives, Shawn McLaurin’s girlfriend “and the defendant himself, through police video footage and text messages.”
“The evidence will show that Djuan McLaurin shot and killed his friend and drinking buddy by shooting him in the head,” Thines told jurors.
Deputies from the Allen County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a residence at 2226 N. Glenwood Ave. at approximately 11:15 p.m. on Dec. 31 in reference to a fight and complaints of gunshots. Upon their arrival deputies found Boddie, 41, deceased inside a garage at the home.
Attorney Steve Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defenders Office last month filed a statement with the court announcing that he intended to advance a self defense claim on behalf of his client alleging that McLaurin “acted in self defense from an attack by the alleged victim.”
Nothing in the testimony of the defendant suggested any threat to the elder McLaurin.
Testimony in the trial will resume Tuesday morning.
