Party-goers’ testimony starts killing trial

By Tasha Kates

Published: August 4, 2008

A Charlottesville jury spent Monday hearing a rough outline of what happened around the time William Miller Herndon was shot at a party last summer on Hardy Drive.

They were there for the trial of Jason Scott Marshman, a New York City native who is facing first-degree murder and firearms charges in connection with Herndon’s death.
On Monday, jurors listened to opening statements and took notes as the prosecution’s witnesses gave a description of what led up to the shooting and what evidence was gathered from the scene.

On the night of June 20, 2007, Herndon went to a local club where a few of his acquaintances were hanging out. Samuel Brooks, a Baltimore man who testified that he came to Charlottesville the month before to sell drugs, also said Monday in court that Herndon had given him money to buy a beer.

Marshman was watching the conversation between the two men from afar, Thomas Sprolling testified Monday. He described Marshman as acting aggressively.
“‘There he goes right there,’” said Sprolling in court, recalling what Marshman had said to him.

The beef between Marshman and Herndon was not made immediately clear in court Monday, although witnesses and attorneys identified the men as being involved in selling drugs. A search warrant affidavit previously noted the two had been arguing over a perceived relationship between Herndon and the mother of Marshman’s child, although this information was not mentioned in court on Monday.

After the club closed early the next morning, partiers started commuting to a Hardy Drive apartment for an after party. Brooks testified that he, Sprolling and Marshman were already there when Herndon walked into the kitchen.
“When [Herndon] came in and looked at me and [Marshman], he turned around,” Brooks said. “I turn around and see [Marshman] whip it out — bah bah bah bah …,” he added, mimicking gunshots.

When 911 calls started coming in just before 2 a.m., police were told that shots had been fired and a man had been drug outside of the apartment building. Georgette Shelton, a friend of Herndon’s whom he had spoken to less than 10 minutes before the shooting, said in court Monday that she tried to pick him up off the ground to take him to the hospital when police arrived.

“He was moving his hands,” Shelton said.
Herndon was later pronounced dead at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Joseph Platania, Charlottesville assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said in court Monday that Herndon had been shot nine times.

Then-city police officer and senior evidence technician Casson Reynolds responded to the scene. Reynolds testified Monday that he found possible drops of blood leading from a tree where Herndon was to the back door of one of the apartments. Inside, Reynolds said, he found drops of suspected blood and damage to the floor and cabinets from gunfire.

Reynolds said he also found a gun hidden in a child’s bed upstairs. Sprolling testified Monday that Marshman gave him a gun after the shooting.
People lined the sidewalks and area around the crime scene tape during the investigation, Reynolds testified. In Reynolds’ pictures projected on a television in court, several of these people were shown covering their faces. In his opening statement, Platania told the jury Monday that some of the witnesses had lied to police or hadn’t said anything about the shooting.

Brooks identified himself as one person who tried to keep out of the investigation.
“I was scared for my life,” Brooks testified in court. “No, I didn’t go to police, sir.”
The trial will resume this morning in Charlottesville Circuit Court in front of Circuit Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. The trial is expected to conclude Friday.