MANCHESTER, NH – The recovery of a stolen 9 mm handgun and a spent 9 mm round at the scene of an April shooting where a man suffered two gunshot wounds is evidence the accused shooter acted in self-defense, a defense attorney said yesterday.
Antwone Cousins, 29, last known address of 21 Nazing St., Boston, Mass., is charged with first-degree assault in the April 21 shooting outside DraftKings, 1279 S. Willow St. Marquis Anderson, 28, suffered wounds to the abdomen and left leg in the 9:15 p.m. shooting.
Anderson remains hospitalized in an undisclosed location and still is unable to speak or answer any questions, lead investigator Brian Fleming said Monday during a bail hearing for Cousins in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District.
Cousins, who is presently being preventively detained in the Belknap County jail, is asking the court to release him on personal recognizance bail and, if not, then $5,000 cash bail. He maintains he was acting in self-defense and that the evidence, as well as witness testimony, supports his assertion.
Assistant Hillsborough County Attorney Brad Bolton said Cousins should be detained preventatively because the state showed clear and convincing evidence that Cousins is a danger to the public. He said he shot Anderson and then walked away, got into his car and drove off.
Three Manchester police detectives testified concerning the evidence gathered and witnesses’ accounts. It included the recovery of two unfired 9 mm bullets and one fired 9 mm bullet casing, along with three fired .40 caliber bullet casings.
Lead investigator Detective Brian Fleming, under cross-examination by defense attorney Hannah Roberts, said he did not reveal in the affidavit for the arrest warrant for Cousins that police had recovered the stolen 9mm handgun.
“You didn’t think it necessary to include a firearm was found near the alleged victim of the shooting?” Roberts asked. “No,” Fleming said.
Surveillance video from DraftKings cameras also was played. It recorded Cousins and a woman leaving the business and walking – more than six feet apart – in the parking lot. The woman, who knows Cousins and briefly dated him, told police they just happened to be leaving at the same time but were not together.
She told police she saw Anderson pop up from between two cars and reach toward his waistband. She turned away and as she was heading back into DraftKings she heard gunshots.
Fleming said Cousins was initially identified on the video by police officers who had had encounters with him. On the video, he can be seen taking out what appears to be a black handgun from his waistband and firing it
Anderson is only recorded on the video when he stumbles to the ground, after being shot, and “kind of rolls under a parked vehicle,” Fleming said. About five people come to Cousins’ aid.
Police recovered the 9 mm handgun with a silver slide, reported stolen out of North Carolina, from the wheel well of a GMC pickup truck under which Anderson had rolled. Testimony also revealed police recovered one 9 mm round that had been fired and two 9 mm bullets that were not fired. They also found three fired .40 caliber bullet casings at the scene, close to Anderson. A spent 9 mm casing is indicative that the 9 mm handgun found near Anderson was fired.
Investigators recovered $1,000 that had fallen out of Anderson’s shirt pocket and a marijuana cigarette tucked inside a Newport cigarette pack.
Defense attorney Roberts maintains the evidence supports the woman’s account and another witness’s testimony who said the gun used by the aggressor in the incident had jammed, resulting in the bullets being ejected and not fired.
The prosecutor also played surveillance video obtained from DraftKings from inside the business. It showed Cousins sitting at a table with the woman. He is wearing an orange or red jacket and a black head covering that shows his face, but one that can be lifted up and worn as a mask. He is also wearing red sneakers.
The two are recorded leaving DraftKings with Cousins carrying a pizza, evidence the defense maintains is indicative he didn’t go there with the intention of shooting anyone.
Fleming said, however, that another witness told his probation officer that he was at DraftKings that night and saw Cousins who he knows. He said he separated from him because he had a bad feeling because he had issues with somebody over a woman.
The woman, recorded walking in the parking lot, also told police Cousins and Anderson had an issue over a woman who they both had dated or were trying to date.
Judge Messer took the matter under advisement and will issue a decision at a later time.
