ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor says Eastern Michigan University wide receiver Demarius Reed was killed “for an iPhone and a wallet that were never even used.”
Testimony began Wednesday in the trial of 21-year-old Ed Thomas of Detroit on open murder and robbery charges in the shooting of the 20-year-old football player from Chicago’s South Side.
Washtenaw County Assistant Prosecutor Nimish Ganatra told jurors that Thomas punched and robbed Reed before accomplice Kristopher Pratt shot Reed in the head.
On Friday, Pratt pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The 20-year-old from Detroit admits he shot Reed and has agreed to testify against Thomas.
Thomas’s lawyer told jurors that Pratt’s testimony was “bought and paid for.” Lorne Brown says Thomas came to Ypsilanti to “hang out with friends and have fun,” not rob or kill.
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