In a rare Saturday court session in the trial of Michael Dunn, Rhonda Rouer took the stand to tell her side of what happened Nov. 23, 2012, the night her boyfriend, Dunn, fatally shot 17-year-old Jordan Davis.
Rouer told the jury that her boyfriend had "maybe three or four" rum and sodas at his son's 2012 wedding, prior to pulling into the parking lot of a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station beside a red Dodge Durango, which was blaring loud music, Headline News reports.
She said that before she got out of the car to walk into the gas station to get a bottle of wine, Dunn told her, "I hate thug music."
"Yes, I know," she replied. She testified that she got out of the car and walked into the gas station.
Moments later, Rouer told jurors, "I heard pop, pop, pop."
Headline News notes that Rouer testified that she heard a second set of "pop, pop, pop." When she turned around she saw Dunn outside the vehicle, and she then exited the store. She claims that Dunn told her to get in the car. When Rouer got in the vehicle, she testified, she saw Dunn put a gun back in the glovebox.
The two went back to their hotel, Rouer said, where Dunn ordered a pizza. She also said Dunn mixed both of them another rum and soda in the hotel room, Headline News reports.
When Rouer woke up the next morning, she saw reports on TV about the gas-station shooting. She testified that despite having prior plans she demanded that Dunn take her home right away. The two returned to Dunn's home, where he was later arrested, Headline News reports.
There is no dispute over whether Dunn killed Davis, as he admitted he gunned down the teen in an argument over the loud music, and he claims that the shooting was in self-defense.
Headline News notes that Dunn said he wasn't looking for trouble in a police interview less than 24 hours after his arrest. He told police that he believed that he saw the barrel of a shotgun or a stick in the teens' SUV before he began shooting, but investigators said they did not find a weapon inside the teens' vehicle.
Headline News notes that the testimony of a teary-eyed Rouer was the emotional highlight of the court session.
An evidence technician with the local sheriff’s office also testified on Saturday that there were nine bullet holes in the vehicle in which Davis was shot.
Dunn has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder related to three teens also in the vehicle with Davis, Headline News reports.
On Friday, Davis’ friends testified that they drove away from the gas station to a nearby parking lot to check on him. When they realized that he was in dire need of help they returned to the gas station where bystanders pulled Davis from the SUV and began performing CPR.
Per the 12-person jury's request, acting Circuit Judge Russell Healey held court on Saturday. Court will resume on Monday.
If convicted, Dunn faces up to life in prison, Headline News reports.
Read more at Headline News.