Two men charged in a shooting that paralyzed a mother of five will stand trial.
Cases against Jarviz Brown and Devon West, both 23, of Battle Creek were sent to Calhoun County Circuit Court for trial after District Judge James Norlander listened to testimony from two victims during a preliminary examination on Wednesday.
"I looked back to see who was shooting and as I stepped in I was shot in the back," said Latesha Bills, 27.
Bills said she was attempting to push four of her children inside the house at 96 W. Goguac St. about 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 7 when she said a car driven by Brown stopped and West fired as many as 16 shots through the sunroof.
"I saw him standing in the sunroof shooting his gun," Bills said.
She said she was just stepping inside the door of her house after her children when she was shot.
"I was bleeding to death in front of my children," she said.
Bills spoke from a wheelchair and said she is now unable to walk because of a bullet lodged in her spine.
She and her brother, Anthony Bacon, 25, testified they had gone to the Burger King restaurant at 673 Capital Avenue S.W. and saw both West and Brown. Bacon testified he and the two men have had a dispute for a couple of years.
Bacon said the other men began to approach the car and words were exchanged. Bacon spit on West and said Brown told him, "I am going to kill you."
Bills was driving and they fled the restaurant parking lot but said during questioning by Assistant Prosecutor Tamara Towns and defense attorneys Melissa Heffner and Justin McCarthy that the other men followed them.
Both Bills and Bacon said minutes after they arrived at the Goguac Street home the white sedan with West and Brown inside turned off Washington Avenue and the shooting began.
Bacon testified he didn't see who was shooting and that he had his own gun and fired back.
"We never made it to the house," Bacon recalled. "I was taking cover, ducking for my safety."
Bacon told the court that prosecutors have agreed to drop weapons charges against him in exchange for his testimony.
He said he didn't call police and was only agreeing to testify because his sister was injured.
"I didn't see nobody with a gun," Bacon said. "My sister was on the ground shot in the back. My sister didn't have nothing to do with this. I am doing this for my sister and my sister only."
Both men face up to life in prison if convicted on attempted murder and weapons charges. Both remain in the Calhoun County jail.
Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson
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