A 20-year-old Pensacola man is on trial for murder after allegedly shooting a woman as many as nine times following a dispute over an iPhone.
Nathaniel Cunningham Jr. faces up to life in prison for second-degree murder with a firearm in the March 25, 2023, shooting death of 32-year-old Angel Bailey.
Speaking to jurors at the start of Cunningham’s two-day trial June 10, prosecutor Andrew McGraw said once all the evidence had been presented, “I’ll be asking for the only verdict that can be supported by this case, which is a guilty verdict.”
However, Cunningham’s attorney Greg Whibbs doesn’t believe the case is as cut and dry as the state claims. According to Whibbs, the jury may be left with more questions by the end of the trial than answers.
The bulk of the case hinges on one question revolving around a nickname: Who is Nate?
911 caller refers to Angel Bailey’s shooter as “Nate”
During Whibbs’ opening statement to the jury, he said there were no eye witnesses who saw his client shoot Bailey, and there was no DNA found at the scene that would incriminate his client in the shooting.
He went on to add there were multiple people immediately in the area during the shooting who used the nickname Nate, which he said was important for the jury to remember as they listened to the 911 call.
In the call played by the state during the trial, Willie Agee, the owner of the Mission Road home where the shooting occurred, told law enforcement officers he was home when he heard gunshots and exited his room. Agee then says he thinks Nate shot Bailey, but the shooter had fled by the time he left his room.
Once witnesses began providing testimony to the court, jurors heard that there were at least three other people in the area known as Nate: Nathaniel Cunningham Jr., Nathaniel Cunningham Sr. and a neighborhood mechanic named Nate, which Whibbs says throws into question which one shot Bailey.
“After I argue the facts which you’ll actually hear during the trial, you’ll agree with me that you’re going to have more questions than answers,” Whibbs told the jury. “I’ll ask you to return the only just verdict of not guilty.”
However, as McGraw continued to play the 911 call, Agee seemingly further identifies Nate as his grandson, which is Cunningham.
Agee died shortly after the shooting and cannot give testimony about which Nate he believed shot Bailey.
Why did Nathaniel Cunningham Jr. allegedly shoot Angel Bailey?
According to Agee’s 2023 statement to ECSO investigators, the shooting occurred after an argument about Bailey’s cellphone.
“Agee stated he was in his room watchin TV when Bailey and Cunningham Jr. came to his room arguing because Bailey was accusing Cunningham Jr. of stealing her iPhone,” a report said. “Agee stated that he let Bailey borrow his phone so that she could call to report her phone stolen.”
Agee told law enforcement he heard gunshots roughly four to five minutes later.
In another 911 recording McGraw played during the trial, Bailey is speaking with a dispatcher about reporting her phone as stolen. During the call, Bailey begins screaming and saying, “No! Please don’t shoot me.”
The recording then captures the sound of multiple gunshots.
The trial is scheduled to go to jury deliberation on June 11.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: An argument about an iPhone led to a fatal shooting. Did Nathaniel Cunningham Jr. do it?
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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