Witness says he saw suspect kill his best friend

Eligah Burleson told assistant public defender Jennifer Slone he never had seen Terrance Vance before the night Vance walked up and shot his best friend, Anthony Hempstead, four times.

Burleson testified Thursday at a preliminary hearing for Vance, 29, of Cape Girardeau, who is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Hempstead’s June 28, 2014, death.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Gary Kamp found there was sufficient probable cause to move forward with the case against Vance.

Vance was incarcerated in the Missouri Department of Corrections for robbery and probation violation before he was charged with Hempstead’s killing March 3.

Burleson testified he was with Hempstead and Vashon Bell about midnight June 28, 2014, near the intersection of Benton and Jefferson streets when they were approached by a man he knew as “Gangsta,” whom he later identified as Vance.

Burleson did not clarify how he knew Vance was known as Gangsta, even though he had never seen him before June 28 — something he repeated to Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh.

Gangsta told the three men he would be back, and he was going to get something, Burleson said.

When Vance returned, he pulled a handgun from his clothes and fired four shots at Hempstead from about 5 feet away, Burleson said.

Burleson said he was standing right next to Hempstead when he was shot.

Pathologist Russell Deidiker testified Hempstead was shot four times: in the neck, left chest, right nipple and left arm.

The chest wound perforated the heart and left lung and was fatal, Deidiker said.

After the shooting, everyone ran — Bell and Vance in one direction, and Burleson and Hempstead in the other, Burleson said.

He said at the time, he thought Hempstead was shot in the leg because he was limping when he ran.

Hempstead later was found in an alley in the 800 block of Jefferson Avenue, near the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Ellis Street, about a block away from the site of the shooting, according to testimony from patrolman Ryan Droege of the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Slone asked Burleson why he did not go to the police immediately, even after Burleson and Bell talked about the shooting.

“He was your best friend,” Slone said. “Didn’t you want justice for your best friend?”

Burleson told Limbaugh he had an active warrant at the time for a robbery.

Burleson said he is serving a 10-year sentence for robbery at Farmington Correctional Center. He was arrested July 9, 2014.

Slone also questioned how Burleson could identify Vance as the shooter.

Burleson told Limbaugh the street they were on was so dark he could barely see.

He told Slone he did not know Vance’s name until a prosecutor and detective visited him in prison.

They pointed out Vance’s picture and asked whether he shot Hempstead after they interviewed Burleson, he said.

Burleson told Slone he only saw Vance for about a minute before Hempstead was shot.

“You can recognize someone in less than a minute when it’s so dark out you can barely see?” Slone asked, to which Burleson responded, “Yes” without hesitation.

Cape Girardeau detective Joe Thomas interviewed Bell and two other witnesses, according to a probable-cause statement filed in connection with the case, but none of those people testified Thursday.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

400 block of Benton Streeet, Cape Girardeau, Mo.