BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Hours before five-year-old Kason Guyton was fatally shot, two groups of men were allegedly involved in an “aggressive” confrontation at the Valley Plaza mall, according to witness testimony in the Jonathan Knight trial.
- The trial continued Wednesday as Prosecutor Eric Smith played surveillance video of the alleged groups of men. While the video did not show the altercation, employees of stores in the mall and former security testified to what they heard and saw.
Hours before five-year-old Kason Guyton was fatally shot, two groups of men were allegedly involved in an “aggressive” confrontation at the Valley Plaza mall, according to witness testimony in the Jonathan Knight trial.
The trial continued Wednesday as Prosecutor Eric Smith played surveillance video of the alleged groups of men. While the video did not show the altercation, employees of stores in the mall and former security testified to what they heard and saw.
Ronnie Jeffries, a Bakersfield Police Officer previously assigned to the Special Enforcement Unit was tasked with gathering some of the video from the mall that night. The video showed a group of men whom Jeffries testified included Michael Carter, Mikequell Carter, and Tony Haynes. Later in the video, another group of men are shown. Jeffries testified he also created a photo lineup and showed it to a security guard at the mall who picked out Knight as one f the men in the second group.
An employee for the store BoxLunch testified he heard the the two groups shouting at each other in front of his store. While he said initially the altercation didn’t draw too much concern from him, he noticed it became more aggressive in a matter of minutes.
According to the witnesses, the altercation never escalated to physical violence.
During cross-examination, Defense Attorney Tim Hennessy questioned Jeffries regarding the lineup he created.
At the time of the investigation, the person of interest in the mall was a larger African-American man in red shirt with dreadlocks. Witnesses testified to this person being the more aggressive one during the altercation.
Hennessy questioned Jeffries about the photos chosen in the lineup that included Knight. Hennessy pointed out that some of the photos show faces that were partially in shadows and one photo included a man seeming older than the rest. Hennessy claimed Knight’s photo was well-lit and “clean”.
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