HAMAD TRIAL | Mother and son spend hours testifying about deadly fight

4:55 p.m.

WARREN

John Shively, 17, spent nearly three hours on the witness stand today, questioned by an assistant prosecutor and cross examined by an attorney for Nasser Hamad about the fight that turned deadly at Hamad's house on state Route 46 in Howland Feb. 25.

His mother, April Trent Vokes then testified for a half hour before the Hamad aggravated murder trial concluded for the day. Trent Vokes will resume her testimony at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Shively said he told his mother about vulgar Facebook comments Hamad had made that day and wanted to "resolve the issue" with Nasser Hamad.

2:50 p.m.

WARREN

John Shively, 17, testified today that he and his mother, April Trent Vokes, decided to go to Nasser Hamad's house Feb. 25 to "resolve the issue" with Nasser Hamad that had developed in recent months and on Facebook.

VIDEO: Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull Co. prosecutor, questions John Shively about the shootings

Shively's brother, Josh Haber, 19, decided to go along, and they picked up Bryce Hendrickson, 20, and another distant cousin, Joshua Williams, 20, because Williams was visiting Bryce at the time.

Shively said he and his brother had never met Bryce Hendrickson and Joshua Williams before that day. Shively, his mother and his brothers had only been living in Warren for 12 days at the time, having come from Florida, Shively said.

He had no intention of doing anything but talking to Hamad that day, but when Hamad tackled him down a hill, the situation changed, Shively said.

Hendrickson, who had a knife in the car, Josh Haber and Joshua Williams got out of the car and joined in, Shively said. When Shively saw that his brother and "distant cousins" had started kicking Hamad, he realized things had gone too far and he pulled his brother away, he said.

All five returned to the car, and Hamad came at them with a gun and started firing, he said.

Shively is being cross examined at length by one of Hamad's attorneys, Geoffrey Oglesby, who questioned Shively's contention that he'd never met his distant cousins before that day and had no specific plan to attack Hamad.

12:05 p.m.

WARREN — Two Howland police officers and three more eye witnesses who drove along state Route 46 Feb. 25 the afternoon of two shooting deaths and three shooting injuries testified today on the second day of testimony in the Nasser Hamad aggravated murder case.

Howland police officer Mark Klaholz described being the first police officer to get to the scene and observing Hamad walking toward his front door with a gun in his hand. Klaholz told Hamad to drop the gun, but Hamad kept going and walked into the house.

In a short time, however, Hamad came back outside and allowed himself to be taken into custody.

A mother and her son also testified to seeing what looked like a car accident at Hamad's house and stopping there to help. Kym Daniels, nurse, said she got out of her car and was about to give first aid to one of the victims but saw Hamad standing about 50 feet from her pacing back and forth with a gun and decided to get her and her son out of there.

Moments later police arrived, and Kym went back to helping the three people in the car, two of whom later died.

10:18 p.m.

WARREN — The second day of testimony has begun in the Nasser Hamad aggravated murder case with Howland police officer Mark Klaholz testifying about being the first officer at the scene.

Klaholz described walking to Hamad's house behind Hamad, who was walking toward his front door with a gun in his hand. Klaholz told Hamad to drop the gun, but Hamad kept going and walked into the house.

In a short time, however, Hamad came back outside and allowed himself to be taken into custody.

Earlier today, attorneys for for Hamad renewed their request for an expert witness to testify as to whether Hamad suffered from post traumatic stress disorder on the day of the shootings.

Judge Ronald Rice apparently will have to decide in the next few days whether to allow the expert witness to testify in the trial.

Hamad is accused of shooting five people, killing two of them at his house in Howland on Feb. 25. The judge and Hamad's attorneys discussed the issue briefly at the end of the first day of testimony Monday.

"At this point, there is no case law" Judge Rice said, apparently referring to case law allowing an adult male to argue that he killed because of PTSD.

Hamad attorneys filed a motion last month saying Dr. James Reardon was retained to testify that Hamad fired at the five because he was suffering from PTSD brought on by the Feb. 25 fight and monthslong feud with some of the five.

Prosecutors previously filed a motion asking the judge to deny the testimony, saying courts have ruled such information is only permitted in cases of battered-woman or battered-child syndrome.

Hamad’s motion said Reardon “would testify, in sum, that because of the constant threats of death from some of the attackers over a period of approximately six months, and the beating Hamad suffered from those who unlawfully entered onto his property Feb. 25 ... he was suffering from" PTSD.

Today's filing says Reardon would testify Hamad suffered from PTSD and a concussion.

Several key witnesses are expected to testify later today, including April Trent-Vokes, and her son, John Shively.

Trent-Vokes, 42, and Shively, 17, are two of the three people who survived the shootings. Another of her sons, Josh Haber, 19, was killed in the gunfire.

Tracy Hendrickson, 47, Hamad’s girlfriend and the mother of Bryce Hendrickson, the third survivor of the shootings, is expected to testify Wednesday. Bryce Hendrickson died Sept. 30 at a home in McDonald of a suspected drug overdose

Judge Rice, at the request of prosecutors, has asked journalists covering the trial to refrain from photographing or showing Trent-Vokes, Shively, Tracy Hendrickson or other witnesses in video images to protect their privacy. The judge agreed police officers could be photographed or videotaped.

Authorities have said the shootings followed a monthslong feud involving Hamad and members of Tracy Hendrickson’s family. It was fueled by Tracy leaving her husband and moving in with Hamad, police said.

Chris Becker, assistant county prosecutor, also noted during the first day of testimony Monday that Trent Vokes was married to Tracy’s estranged husband, Brian Hendrickson, at one time.

Trent-Vokes drove her two sons, Bryce Hendrickson and Joshua Williams, 20, of Warren, to Hamad’s house Feb. 25. She and Shively got out of the car first, leading to a fist fight between Hamad and Shively, Becker said

The three other males then got out of their minivan parked in Hamad’s driveway near the road and joined in the fight, Becker said.

That description of the role the three other males played in the initial fight was provided for the first time Monday. A gag order in the trial has prevented the attorneys from answering reporters’ questions about the case.

The many court filings, affidavit and police press release have only hinted at the role of the three other males in the fight.

Hamad defense attorney David Doughten also said Monday during opening statements that the three other males “joined in” on the Hamad-Shively fight, which Doughten said included something hard hitting Hamad in the head and people kicking Hamad with boots.

During opening statements, Monday, Becker said Trent-Vokes drove the youths to Hamad’s house only to confront him about his vulgar Facebook posts to Shively and Bryce Hendrickson earlier Feb. 25.

Becker said Trent Vokes will admit she didn’t know the extent to which the boys had also written vulgar taunts directed at Hamad. Trent-Vokes suffered six gunshot wounds that day, including one to the head.

The prosecution built much of its case so far through the testimony of a dozen witnesses to the two rounds of gunfire near Route Route 46 – Hamad shooting the five shortly after the fight and Hamad reloading his gun inside the house, returning and firing more shots – a total of 18, Becker said.

Hamad will testify Thursday or Friday, Doughten said Monday.

The jury might get the case as soon as Friday. If Hamad is convicted of certain of the crimes, a second phase would begin within a few days in order to determine whether he should get the death penalty.