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Trial: 911 calls, body cam video show chaotic scene of 2021 Norfolk Young Terrace 'mass shooting'

Ziontay Palmer is standing trial on several charges, including three counts of aggravated murder, in the shooting that killed three women and hurt two others.

NORFOLK, Va. — Editor's Note: Details in this story may be disturbing to some readers.

Day 1: Ziontay Palmer trial

Opening statements concluded quickly following the jury selection Tuesday afternoon for Ziontay Palmer's trial.

In opening statements, Norfolk Commonwealth's Deputy Attorney, Cindy Collard, told the jury Palmer's girlfriend, Angel Legrande -- who was pregnant at the time -- was walking back from going to the store and went toward a friend's car. She said that's when Palmer allegedly got out of the car and immediately shot Legrande in the shoulder. She survived her injuries.

Collard said Palmer quickly shot four other women following that, calling the situation, "instant chaos." Three of the four women who died were Legrande's mother, Nicole Lovewine, her girlfriend, Detra Brown, and their neighbor, Sara Costine. The other woman who got shot but survived was a neighbor and friend of Costine.

Collard said Palmer then ran away from the scene following the shooting, discarded his gun, and removed his sweatshirt before trying to carjack another woman. She said he then ran behind the florist shop on Brambleton near Young Terrace neighborhood. Not long after that, police stopped Palmer and then let him go because he did not match the clothing description, Collard explained.

"By the end of this case, you will have no doubt," Collard said. 

Palmer's attorney, Eric Korslund, started his opening statements by saying his client did not commit this shooting. 

"You will see no scientific evidence whatsoever in this case...not one shred of scientific evidence linking Palmer to the shooting or the weapon," Korslund said. "Do not let your frustration over gun violence overshadow his [Palmer's] presumption of innocence."

Later on, prosecutors first presented 13 calls to 911 from different people who either witnessed the shooting or heard the gunshots. In the background of each call, you could hear screaming and crying from people who ran up to see the scene.

One woman who called, crying, asking the dispatcher to send for help. When the dispatcher asked her a few questions about the suspected shooter, the caller told the dispatcher she heard someone call out the name "Tay."

Another phone call by an unidentified person also urgently asked for help, saying women were on the ground in the middle of the fire lane. That's when the caller yelled and said "my mom just got shot."

A neighbor and good friend of Brown, one of the victims who died, testified in court. She said she went to grab a towel as Brown ran outside after gunshots were heard, and when the neighbor came out after hearing more gunshots she found Brown dead on the ground. 

Prosecutors used the neighbor's Ring doorbell camera that caught the moment shots were fired that night.

In the left side of the frame, the video showed the shooter fire a gun at one of the women and then shooting her again. However, the video quality was not high enough to clearly show the faces of the people involved.

Korslund used that fact to his case's advantage, arguing that the shooter could not be clearly identified as Palmer in the video.

The neighbor, however, said she recognized Palmer when she saw the video herself. She said she knew Palmer because he had been at Lovewine and Brown's home in the past. The neighbor said she did not know who the shooter was at the time of the shooting, but she said she could identify him when she saw the video.

Prosecutors also showed body camera footage from the first Norfolk police officer who arrived on scene. The video began as the officer pulled up to the scene and quickly ran down the fire lane when he heard screaming. 

The officer said he first saw three women on the ground. The video showed them lying still in pools of blood with people crying hysterically around them. The people in the neighborhood, some of them family members, begged the officer to do something. 

The officer said he called for backup and more medics as he attempted CPR on one of the women on the ground who appeared to be struggling to breathe. In the video, you can then see Legrande walking through the gated area towards the officer, bleeding from her shoulder where Palmer had allegedly shot her.

Day two of the trial is set to begin Wednesday morning. Prosecutors said they anticipate bringing in the son of one of the victims who died. The victim's son was 13 at the time he witnessed the shooting occur.

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