One of the last people to see Clayton Bear alive said she saw three men bust through the front door of an East Hill home, just moments before the 17-year-old was shot in the bedroom.
Two of those men, she said in testimony Friday, were the accused: Jordan Herron and Orren Johnson.
In 2014, the witness was dating Herron, one of the two men facing trial for first-degree murder. She said she was drinking with a group of young people, including Bear, when she saw Herron and two other men rush into the home.
“Three gentlemen came ramming through the door,” she told the court.
The witness said she saw Johnson, armed with a gun.
“I know Orren ran to the bedroom,” she said. “And then, as we were sitting there, we heard gunshots going off.”
She then told the court how she later went into the bedroom and saw Bear lying on the ground, “bleeding out.”
But the two defence lawyers argued that the witness was far too drunk that night to serve as a reliable witness. They also pointed out that her statements repeatedly changed during investigation.
At the time of the shooting, early in the morning of April 14, 2014, she admitted she was “fading in and out” and only remembered “bits and pieces” of the night.
For more on this story, please see the Jan. 28 print or e-edition of the Daily Herald.
