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Witnesses at murder trial testify they heard gun cocking just before shooting
DAYTON — Moments before David Driscoll was shot, as his two friends hid behind the Marathon gas station, the two heard the cocking of a gun.
“I said, ‘I think he has a gun. We need to get out of here,’” said George DeLaVergne.
DeLaVergne and Kelly Altic, friends of Driscoll, testified Wednesday, June 10, in the murder trial of Kyle McClendon, 23, of Trotwood, who is also charged with felonious assault and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. All of the charges include gun specifications, which would automatically add three years to any possible sentence.
His trial before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Dennis J. Langer, which started Tuesday, is expected to last through the week, possibly into next week.
McClendon and Driscoll were strangers who met by chance Feb. 8 at the Marathon gas station, 4351 Riverside Drive, Harrison Twp. During opening statements Tuesday, assistant Montgomery County prosecutor John Amos said Driscoll was the victim of a cold-blooded execution, while defense attorney Barbara J. Doseck said video footage would show Driscoll was the aggressor.
Altic and DeLaVergne both testified that they were part of a group of Sinclair Community College students who were at a party at an apartment off Riverside Drive. Altic, DeLaVergne and Driscoll decided to walk to the Marathon station to buy cigarettes.
As they walked through the parking lot near the entrance doors, McClendon pulled into the lot quickly, then stopped close to them before revving the engine “almost like he was going to run us over,” Altic said.
The three were in the store when McClendon entered. He seemed angry, walking around and “mumbling under his breath,” Altic said.
Next, McClendon bumped into DeLaVergne, Altic said. She said McClendon said something, but she did not hear it.
DeLaVergne testified that McClendon said “Out of the way, homeboy.”
DeLaVergne and Altic, who had bought their cigarettes, decided to leave the store. Driscoll was still making his purchase.
“We had a really bad feeling about the whole situation,” Altic said.
From outside, Altic and DeLaVergne could see McClendon and Driscoll having words inside the store. Altic said she tried to call Driscoll on his cell phone, but got no response.
DeLaVergne decided that he and Altic should walk over to the side of the store. He said he was concerned about Altic’s safety.
While on the side of the building, Altic peeked around the corner and saw McClendon walking back toward his car.
“George was kind of pulling me back because he didn’t want me to be seen,” Altic said.
The two heard some rustling sounds from the area of McClendon’s car, then heard the cocking of a gun. The two then retreated behind the building and were pacing. After a few minutes, they heard gunshots.
“We just kind of looked at each other,” Altic said, breaking down in tears. “We ran. We started running. We weren’t sure if he was going to come after us or not.”
The two ran toward the apartment complex. After they saw police lights, they returned to the scene, Altic said.
On Tuesday, Amos said Driscoll and McClendon had a “brief verbal altercation” inside the store, then McClendon left and went back to his car, which was at a gas pump. Driscoll walked out to the gas pump and exchanged words again with McClendon, Amos said.
That’s when the two shook hands and hugged. But as Driscoll was walking away, McClendon summoned him back, then shot him five times, once in the thigh, three times in the abdomen and once in the head. He then fled the scene in the car, Amos said.
Driscoll died at the scene.
McClendon was arrested hours after the shooting, when a sheriff’s deputy passing a Riverside Drive apartment complex spotted a green Pontiac which matched the description of the car in the store’s video footage. The deputy touched the hood, and the car was still warm, Amos said.
The car was registered to a woman who lived in the apartment complex, but days before the shooting, a Dayton police officer filed a report after stopping McClendon in the same car, Amos said.
Deputies knocked on the car’s owner’s apartment door, and she let them in. Inside, they found McClendon sleeping with a handgun under his pillow, Amos said. The gun is a .22 caliber, as were the bullets removed from Driscoll’s body, Amos said.
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