Defendant details shooting that he said was self-defense

By D.a. Wilkinson

The defendant said his assailant was close to him.

LISBON — Eric Dillard, charged with murder, testified in court that he was holding his pistol with both hands as Jamie A. Farley kept coming closer to his home.

“Thump, thump,” Dillard said. “Two shots went off.”

Dillard, 31, of 906 Commerce St., Wellsville, said Tuesday that Farley, 35, of East Liverpool, “ran toward a red Cavalier.”

The red car was driven by Farley’s girlfriend, Shirley Hackney. In the car was Hackney’s mother, Andrea, and Hackney’s 9-year-old son and 15-month-old daughter.

“A woman yelled, ‘We’ll be back,’” Dillard testified in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. He added he was not sure who yelled.

But no one came back.

Dillard could get 15 years to life in prison if convicted of the murder charge, and up to another three years because that charge carries a gun specification.

He also is charged with illegal possession of a weapon because of a previous drug conviction.

He claims he shot Farley in self-defense.

According to previous testimony, Farley got into the car after the shooting April 22, 2008, but as Hackney drove away, the unclosed front passenger door opened, and he fell onto the street. He was taken by ambulance to East Liverpool City Hospital, where he later died.

Dillard said, and demonstrated in court, that Farley was crouched over with his right arm hidden from sight.

“I told him to get down on the ground,” Dillard testified. “He kept coming.”

Dillard said Farley was 12 to 36 inches away from him at the time of the shooting. Earlier expert testimony, however, said the shots did not come from a short distance away.

A neighbor came out and asked what had happened. Dillard said he told him, “I think I just shot Jamie Farley.”

Dillard told the jury he was concerned for the safety of his son, known as Little Eric.

Dillard is legally prohibited from having a gun, but he testified he had obtained a pistol because two men had come to his home some time ago looking for another man who allegedly sold marijuana by the pound.

One man, Dillard testified, put a gun to his head. Dillard testified those two men were never located.

Dillard said he had little experience with guns, but he later obtained a .40-caliber handgun and 50 bullets for his safety.

He also testified that he had told local drug enforcement officers what he knew about the local drug trade.

Farley’s girlfriend said Farley had gone to Dillard’s home to ask about the poor returns on a $20,000 investment to resell clothing.

Prosecutors also questioned Dillard’s girlfriend, Trisha Miller, and showed her monthly bank statements that showed Dillard’s clothing company had no money.

wilkinson@vindy.com.