Whitney Downard / The Meridian StarThis stretch of street, between 8th and 9th Streets on 25th Avenue shows the gate and empty lot, now fenced, near where Reondricus Rogers died on Dec. 15, 2014. 

Leroy Lewis, the man accused in the December 2014 death of Reondricus Rogers, said in court Tuesday he wanted to testify Wednesday in the expected final day of his trial.

Rogers died from a gunshot wound on 25th Avenue between 8th and 9th Street in Meridian on Dec. 15, 2014.

Police arrested Lewis, charging him with murder and aggravated assault, and Payton Bailey, who faced two counts of accessory after the fact. 

Testimony Monday revealed that Kaddaifi Gray, who knew Rogers, had $300 from Lewis to buy spice, a synthetic form of marijuana. 

Gray said Monday that he never intended to procure spice for Lewis but took the money when Lewis offered it to him. 

On Tuesday, a witness for the defense, Fred Crosby IV, testified that Gray and his brother belonged to the BDs, or the Black Disciples gang. Crosby, who lived and worked in the area, said he’d seen both men carry firearms previously.

“I worked at (Mr.) Car Wash and Kaddaifi came down to the car wash,” Crosby said. “We had people come down there that sold us guns. I bought one myself.”

Crosby said he heard about Gray’s trouble with Lewis after Bailey, identified by law enforcement in court as Lewis’ girlfriend, called 911 to report a robbery. 

Later, Crosby said he was in the Nixie gas station, just across the road from Rogers and Gray on 25th Avenue, when he heard gunshots. 

“I didn’t see the shooting. My back was turned,” Crosby, an inmate at the Lauderdale Count Detention Facility, said. “So I didn’t know what was going on.”

Crosby, on probation at the time, said police subsequently arrested him and gave him a statement, which he said he signed without reading. In court, Crosby countered parts of his statement to police that said he’d witnessed the shooting. 

According to Monday testimony, Lewis approached the group after police left and took no action on the reported robbery. Lewis then started firing, killing Rogers and injuring Gray. 

Chief Medical Examiner Mark LeVaughn testified that the autopsy concluded that both Rogers’ right hand and chest had been hit, though he couldn’t determine the number of bullets that wounded Rogers. 

LeVaughn said the bullet hit Rogers on his left side, traveling through his chest, and medical examiners recovered the bullet near his right collarbone. 

A recording of the 911 call from Bailey, played in the courtroom, said she needed an officer on 25th and 8th following an armed robbery.

“Someone pulled a gun on me,” Bailey said. 

However, Bailey didn’t identify Gray or mention details about the alleged gun.

The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Philip Weinberg, said in his opening statement that Lewis was the only person armed while the defense, Public Defender Mark Chandlee, has said that Lewis acted in self defense.

The trial is set to resume at 8:45 a.m. Wednesday.