VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — In Virginia Beach, a jury is seated and a murder trial is underway Tuesday.
Darrius White, 24, is facing several felonies after Virginia Beach investigators accused him of killing 65-year-old Annie Smith woman during a robbery at a Harris Teeter gas station in Haywood Shopping Center on December 13, 2021.
Prosecutors said Darrius White committed the robbery with his brother, Michael White. They both face aggravated murder during a robbery, along with several other charges. Michael White's trial will begin in June.
A judge dropped the first-degree murder charge for Darrius White's trial, choosing to move forward with aggravated murder as that charge carries steeper penalties if White is convicted.
Attorneys seated 14 jurors for the trial, gave their opening statements, and prosecutors called their first witness to the stand, Steven Smith.
Smith is the victim's husband and testified on the stand that he watched his wife bleed out in the Harris Teeter gas parking lot.
Smith said the entire robbery happened in a split second. He said he went to the gas station with his wife, Annie Smith, to fill up the couple's car when a masked man approached them with a gun in his hand.
The masked man allegedly said, "Give me everything you got," and Smith said he handed over his wallet and keys.
That is when Smith testified that he walked back to his car, and another masked man followed him to demand even more money from the couple.
Smith said the masked man never waited for a response, and shot three times through the driver's window, killing Annie Smith.
On Tuesday, Smith identified the man who killed his wife as Darrius White. Smith said the man who initially robbed the couple was the suspect's brother, Michael White.
An attorney representing Darrius White cross-examined Smith on the stand. There, the attorney claimed Annie Smith pulled out her own gun and pointed it toward the suspects.
Steven Smith did not deny this but said his wife did it out of self-defense.
The jury will have the chance to hear more evidence as attorneys with both the prosecution and defense plan to bring forth more witnesses and review submitted evidence.
The murder trial could last until Friday, May 26.