At times wiping away tears, Leilani Ashantae Brown took the witness stand on July 7 and testified against her co-defendant during his murder trial.
Asked by Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman whether she had been promised any favors for her testimony, the 22-year-old mother said no. However, she said she is hoping for leniency.
Buxman clarified that all the state wanted from Brown was the truth. She agreed.
Brown is charged with first-degree murder with a firearm and grand theft auto. Her case is pending. If convicted, she faces life in prison.
Brown and co-defendant Dexavion J’Neil Brown (no relation) are both charged in connection with the shooting death of Lezarius Graham, 17, on June 6, 2023. The state argues that Dexavion Brown fired the shots and his co-defendant brought the victim to the shooting scene and served as getaway driver.
Dexavion Brown, 26, is standing trial this week on charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and tampering with an electronic device. The case was investigated by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
His co-defendant was the only witness called during the morning session of trial on July 7.
Leilani Brown testifies
Leilani Brown said she was in foster care as a child and “got moved around a lot” while growing up.
She told the court she had known her co-defendant for a few months and they were in a sexual relationship. She said Dexavion Brown was possessive of her and she was forced to take orders from him.
She said Brown is in a local gang. Brown said she knew the victim from school and would purchase marijuana from him.
The day before the deadly shooting, she said, she and three other people – one of them her co-defendant – were driving around in a stolen car when they saw someone from a rival gang.
She said Brown and another man in the vehicle opened fire at the intended target. No one was hurt.
After the shooting, she said, they changed clothes. She said Brown was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor and he cut it off and threw it away.
On the day of the shooting death, Brown said, she wanted some marijuana and texted the victim, Lezarius Graham.
She said Brown was upset and told her that Graham was in another gang. She said the defendant told her there was a price on Graham’s head.
She said Brown told her to set up a deal. Scared, she did as she was told.
Brown said her co-defendant hid in the trunk while she drove to the arranged location. When she arrived, the victim got into the car.
At that point, she testified, Brown pushed down the back seat and shot Lezarius Graham. The teen dropped his phone in the car and ran, she said.
The woman said they left the area. She said they found the victim’s phone and threw it away.
She said they spray painted the car and wiped it down. Brown said her co-defendant threatened to kill her and her child.
Defense cross-examination
Cross-examined by defense lawyer A. Antonio Tomas, Brown said she decided to come forward because what happened was wrong and felt guilty about it.
She said she was forced to drive the getaway car. Although she lied to sheriff’s deputies when they first interviewed her, she said she eventually told the truth.
Brown told the court she stole the vehicle from a man. The lawyer pointed at some inconsistent statements made by Brown. For instance, Tomas said, in previous testimony, Brown said there were three occupants in the vehicle, not four.
As for how his client removed the ankle monitor, she said Brown used a scissors. She said she didn’t know where he got the scissors.
During the prosecutor’s questioning, Brown said that while leaning forward, her shoulder twice pressed the horn. The defense asked her about it.
The witness said the first time her upper body pressed the horn it was an accident. The second time was intentional, she said. The horn was pressed right before the shooting, prosecutors said.
Brown said she couldn’t say how the victim was shot. She did not know if Lezarius Graham had any marijuana because she never saw it.
Opening statement
Before that testimony, Assistant State Attorney Amy Berndt delivered an opening statement to the jury. She said Dexavion Brown went on “a crime spree.” She said he fired shots at one man and killed another.
Lezarius Graham, she said, was “senselessly” murdered. The prosecutor said Graham attended school, lived with his mother, worked, and was in a gang. She said he sold small amounts of marijuana from time to time.
On the day Graham was killed, she said, he was scheduled to work but never showed up, which was unusual. No one heard from him, and his mother grew worried. She checked with her son’s friends. They had not heard from him. Her son’s boss called, looking for him.
A landscaper eventually found Graham’s body in the woods in the 2100 block of Northwest 43rd Street. An autopsy showed he had been shot once, the prosecutor said.
A neighbor told Kip Peterson, the detective assigned to the case, about seeing a suspicious red car in the neighborhood. The neighbor remembered hearing the horn honk twice, and then a gunshot.
Peterson was going to work the next day when he spotted the red car, identified as a Toyota Corolla, following an Acura. The detective stopped both vehicles and detained the people in them. One of those people was Leilani Brown.
The prosecutor said Brown, and the others from the traffic stop, denied knowing anything about the shooting death.
The detective was notified by an Ocala Police Department detective about a shooting on June 5 involving a red car. Police believed their shooting may be connected to the murder case.
Peterson found the owner of the red car and Leilani Brown matched the description as the person who stole the vehicle. Brown was interviewed at the jail and she confessed to knowing information about the shooting, Berndt said.
The defense declined to give an opening argument.
Additional testimony
Multiple people, including Lezarius Graham’s mother, testified for the prosecution. In her testimony, the woman said she asked her son if he had a ride to work and he told her yes. She said she told him she loved him and it was the last time they spoke.
She said when she got home from work she noticed the front door was ajar. She said she called and texted her son about the door. She got no answer.
The teen’s mother her son’s boss called and told her Lezarius was not at work. She said it was odd because “he never missed a day.”
Not hearing from him, she went to her son’s home and asked if anyone had seen him. No one had seen him. Worried, she called law enforcement to file a missing person report.
On June 7, she posted her son’s picture on Facebook. Later, sheriff’s officials told her about her son’s death.
Sitting in the courtroom, the victim’s mother excused herself several times because she was overcome with grief. Family and friends from the defendant and the victim were in court.
Jurors also heard testimony from law enforcement officials, people affiliated with the monitoring device, and the person who stumbled on Lezarius Graham’s body.
The trial was scheduled to resume July 8 at 9 a.m. with more witnesses from the prosecution. Prosecutors anticipate finishing their case on July 8. The defense will start on the same day. It’s unknown whether the defendant will testify.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Co-defendant tells Ocala jury how teen was killed | Exclusive
Reporting by Austin L. Miller, Ocala Star-Banner / Ocala Star-Banner
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Austin L. Miller, Ocala Star-Banner | USA TODAY Network
