COURTS: MAN BOUND OVER IN INDIAN PARK SHOOTING DEATH

JACKSON, Mo. -- If a bullet from Robert D. Moore's .38-caliber revolver killed 19-year-old Jesus Sides at Indian Park last month, Moore said it was a mistake.

"If I shot Jesus it was an accident and I didn't mean to," Moore said in a 13-minute videotaped statement shown at a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.

A ballistics expert with the Southeast Missouri Crime Lab testified the bullet which killed Jesus Sides came from the gun used by Moore.

Moore, 18, said he was aiming at Sides' brother, 17-year-old Solomon Sides, whom Moore said was brandishing a .22-caliber handgun and had shot at him a week earlier while he was inside his apartment.

But after two hours and seven witnesses, Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp bound Moore over for arraignment on Dec. 11 for second degree murder and three other felony charges in connection with Jesus Sides' death on Oct. 19.

A scene of confusion, with bullets flying from unidentified shooters in the park where about 10 children were near the playground, was described in testimonies by Moore and Solomon Sides.

Changing stories

When Moore was originally questioned by police a few hours after the shooting, he said Solomon Sides was the only person he saw shooting in the park. A day later, Moore told police he had lied, detective Jimmy Smith said.

"I didn't want to get locked up for no murder," Moore said in a videotaped confession.

About 30 minutes before friends of Moore initiated a confrontation with Solomon Sides, Moore said he placed his revolver and a brown glove behind the raised lid of a seat inside a portable toilet in the park. The gun, which had been purchased from a gun dealer called "the cadillac man" for $150, was Moore's protection, he said. After Solomon Sides allegedly shot at him, Moore said he wanted to be safe.

Solomon Sides said safety for others in the park was his reason for getting his brother's gun.

"I was trying to protect everybody that was there," he said.

Solomon Sides told the judge that he, his brother and three friends were at a bench near a covered shelter just west of basketball courts when several cars pulled up and stopped. One of Moore's friends came up and punched him, Solomon Sides said, and the two started wrestling. While he was on the ground, Solomon Sides said he saw 16-year-old Chris Sparks pulling out a handgun.

Solomon Sides broke free and ran to where his brother had stopped on his bicycle on William Street. He told Jesus Sides to give him his gun. His brother struggled not to give him the gun, but Solomon Sides said he took it anyway.

Who shot first?

Running back in the direction of the playground, Solomon Sides said he saw Sparks raising his gun and aiming it at him, so he fired.

He wasn't sure if Sparks or he shot first, Solomon Sides said. Both apparently missed.

No charges had been filed against Solomon Sides since it was apparent he was acting in self defense when he fired a shot at Sparks, Cape Girardeau County prosecutor Morley Swingle said.

Sparks was cited into juvenile court for his role in the shooting.

Moore's description of the shootout was different.

As he watched from the portable toilet, Moore got his gun once Solomon Sides and the other man began fighting, he said. Moore continued watching while Solomon ran to his brother to get a handgun. After Solomon Sides ran back onto the basketball court and fired two shots toward a friend of Moore's, Moore said he came out and fired two shots toward Solomon Sides. He said Solomon Sides shot back two or three times. Moore went back in the portable toilet to fire four more shots through a vent.

After Solomon Sides ran to catch up with his brother, Moore said he went to find his own brother, Robert Criddle, who had been in the park.

Criddle had originally been charged with the murder, until Moore gave police his confession. The charge against Criddle was a mistake in identification, Swingle said.

As he left the park with police and paramedics arriving, one police officer stopped Moore to ask him what happened. Moore told the officer he hadn't seen anything, he said.

Later that evening, as he watched television reports of the shooting, he said he was surprised to hear that Jesus Sides had been shot.

Jesus Sides died from a single bullet, which passed through his right arm and into his chest, said Dr. Russell Deidiker, a pathologist from Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington, Mo.

Sharon Hunt, who had lived in the 200 block of south Lorimier Street, was walking toward the street as Jesus Sides rode his bicycle up the hill. She had heard the shots seconds before.

He collapsed in front of her as she stood between two cars, she said.

"It was like he was gasping for breath, like he was asking for help," Hunt said.

Hunt, a certified nursing assistant, tried to find a pulse, but she said it was too late.