The prosecution in the murder trial of Shon P. Byrd Jr. rested Tuesday afternoon after nearly two days of testimony from 14 witnesses.

Byrd is accused of the 2014 shooting death of H.L. “Billy” Putnam, a World War II veteran. Byrd’s first trial in April ended in a mistrial.

Putman died in his vehicle from a gunshot wound outside of Vowell’s Market Place on North Hills Street in Meridian on May 11, 2014 after reportedly buying his wife flowers for Mother’s Day.

Police arrested and charged Byrd with capital murder, armed robbery and three counts of credit card fraud.

On Monday and Tuesday, prosecutors called numerous witnesses, including Vowell’s customers and former employees to to the stand in Lauderdale County Circuit Court, where the trial is being held.

The witnesses testified they saw a young black man wearing a dark t-shirt run away from the grocery store toward Shumate Road that Sunday. 

Retired Meridian Police Detective Greg Crane, the lead investigator, testified that he photographed the scene and recovered two bullet fragments and two casings. Two of the shots lodged themselves into the passenger seat of Putman’s vehicle, while the third shot went through the passenger door.

Lisa Funte, a medical examiner with the state’s crime lab, testified that the three gunshots Putnam suffered showed he’d been shot at close range.

Veronica Ferguson, charged as an accessory after the fact, testified Monday that she, Byrd and Decarlos Santez Clark had gone to the store to buy supplies for a Mother’s Day fish fry.

Clark, who was convicted of two counts of credit card fraud and as an accessory after the fact in the case, testified he drove the car to Vowell’s Market Place that day, but his testimony differed from Ferguson’s testimony on details and the timeline. Specifically, the two testimonies varied about when the group switched the cars and when the police arrived.

Ferguson testified Monday she told Clark’s mother about the shooting and his mother called the police, who arrived a short time later, while Byrd and Clark switched the Grand Marquis with another vehicle. After police left, Ferguson said the three went to the mall to go shopping.

Clark testified he told his mother after Byrd left his home and Ferguson went to the home of Lyndell Pritchard, Clark’s brother who lived across the street.

Then, Clark, Ferguson and Byrd all switched Clark’s Grand Marquis for Pritchard’s Impala and went to the mall, returning when Clark’s mother said the police were looking for them, Clark testified.

Ferguson, charged as an accessory after the fact and with three counts of credit card fraud, testified Monday that she had made a deal with the state to drop her 14 years of prison time in exchange for her testimony at Byrd’s trial.

Clark testified Tuesday that he had pled guilty to his charges and had just been released from prison in May.

John Helmert Jr., Byrd’s defense attorney, asked Clark about his previous felony charges and history of gang activity, which the prosecution objected to. Helmert said he wanted the jury to know Clark’s criminal past.

“This jury needs to understand who they’re dealing with,” Helmert told the court after the jury left the courtroom.

Under Helmert’s questioning, Clark said he felt rushed when he made his statements to the Meridian Police Department because he had smoked marijuana earlier that day and was high when detectives asked him to sign his statements. Clark also said that he felt pressured to sign his plea bargain.

“I didn’t really use the credit card. I really signed the plea bargain because I was tired of sitting in jail,” Clark said, reading from an earlier petition he wrote for parole.

The defense attempted to cast doubt on the testimonies of Ferguson and Clark throughout the first two days of the trial. During the cross examination of Ferguson, Helmert asked Ferguson about her relationship to Pritchard, her boyfriend at the time and father of her child.

Helmert said Monday there were four people in the car: Clark, Ferguson, Byrd and Pritchard, saying that Pritchard committed the crimes while Byrd stayed in the car.

One of the final witnesses for the prosecution, Al Moore, said he monitored ankle bracelets for Lauderdale County. Moore told the court the bracelets released a location every five minutes and were accurate within 100 feet.

Moore testified that Byrd’s ankle bracelet placed him in Vowell’s for less than 10 minutes between 12:28 and 12:38 p.m. on May 11, 2014. The bracelet placed Byrd in the Bonita Lakes Mall area from 2:18 p.m. until 2:53 p.m.

Putnam’s family has been attending the trial. 

“We’re glad we’re here,” Rita Null, Putnam’s daughter said.

“It’s slow, but we want everything to be presented that needs to be presented,” said Hull’s daughter, Davida Hopkins.

“It’s slow but we want it to be right,” Null said.

The defense is expected to call witnesses Wednesday. The trial is scheduled to continue at 9 a.m.