Video played for the jury on Monday showed the shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
It showed Corey Washington and Tanisha Turner arriving separately to exchange custody of their 4-year-old son.
It showed the two arguing.
And it showed Turner’s boyfriend, prosecutors said, fire at least three shots, killing Washington in the Family Dollar parking lot on Brighton Road.
It will be up to the jury, both sides agree, to determine whether Ambrose Sample Jr., 45, acted to defend Turner — or with intent to kill.
Sample’s trial began Monday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Beemer.
He is charged with homicide, carrying a firearm without a license, terroristic threats and related counts stemming from the Dec. 26, 2022, shooting in the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood.
A fight ended — or in progress?
When Turner and Washington arrived that afternoon, tensions were already high, according to investigators.
The two began yelling at each other. Video retrieved from the nearby Woods Run branch of the Carnegie Library shows Washington strike Turner.
At that point, Assistant District Attorney Emily Shanahan told the jury in her opening statement, Washington’s sister, who was also there, stepped in between the two and went after Turner.
At the same time, the video showed Sample approach and fire, the prosecutor said.
She told the jury Sample purposely shot and killed Washington.
The defendant, Shanahan said, made “three deliberate decisions,” referring to each pull of the trigger.
“I want you to pay attention to when the trigger is pulled,” the prosecutor said.
She urged jurors to watch what Washington was doing at the time, implying the fight between the two parents had already ended when the gun was fired.
Two prosecution witnesses who were at the scene later testified along those lines.
Makeisha Turner, who had begun dating Washington a few months earlier, said she remained in the car during the custody exchange.
She said she is not related to Tanisha Turner and did not know her.
“Corey turned around and tried to walk away, which is when he was shot,” she testified.
The other witness who testified similarly was Washington’s then-17-year-old daughter.
‘Boom, boom, boom’
Shanahan told jurors Sample was not justified in shooting Washington.
But defense attorney Ryan Tutera disagreed, saying his client acted to defend his girlfriend after her ex attacked her
“My client is innocent of these allegations,” Tutera said. “The law protects my client.”
Tutera told the jury that Washington had a history with Turner, who had previously sought a restraining order against him.
He had sent her threatening text messages as well, Tutera said.
That day in the parking lot, the defense attorney continued, Sample remained in the car while the custody exchange was happening and exited only after he saw Washington punch Turner.
“He punches her in the face so hard her head whips back, and he does it again,” Tutera said. “And seconds later, boom, boom, boom.”
As Sample was about to shoot Washington, the defense attorney continued, the video surveillance showed Washington’s sister begin punching Turner.
“The sister beat Tanisha senseless,” Tutera said, adding that the beating continued even after the shots were fired.
Sample is also charged with threatening Washington’s sister with the gun that day.
“He was justified in defending Tanisha against the sister’s attack, as well,” Tutera said.
After the shooting, the video showed Sample flee, leaving Turner and her 4-year-old son at the scene.
Tutera could not explain why his client left. “This man should never have been charged,” Tutera said. “But for the fact he ran, he probably would not have been charged.”
