Cape Girardeau murder trial expected to wrap up today

A Cape Girardeau murder suspect took the stand in his own defense Thursday during his trial in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Defendant Jibril Walton, 26, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Aug. 18, 2002, shooting death of Billy Jones Jr.

The trial is expected to wrap up today, with closing arguments from attorneys likely finished by noon, said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

The shooting occurred at the National Guard Armory's parking lot in Cape Girardeau. The men were in two separate cars parked next to one another. Walton's case was transferred to Butler County on a change of venue.

Passenger targeted

Investigators previously said that during an interrogation with Walton, he admitted to shooting Jones but said he was actually aiming at Dartanyus Harris, a passenger in Jones' car.

A bleeding 31-year-old Jones was driven by Harris to Southeast Missouri Hospital, where he told police Walton shot him. He died early the next morning.

Swingle called Harris as the first witness on the trial's first day Wednesday. The young man described how the two cars came to be parked at the Armory and how Jones came to be shot.

Harris testified Wednesday, along with hospital staff, the police officer that heard Jones identify "Jibril" as the shooter, witnesses who saw the two cars and heard the gunfire, and the medical examiner who performed the autopsy.

In addition to the defendant, Thursday's testimony included Jones' girlfriend and two Cape Girardeau police detectives.