NORFOLK, Va. — Calm and collected are the words many people who testified used to describe 21-year-old Ziontay Palmer in court Thursday, marking the third day of his trial.
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Palmer is accused of shooting his girlfriend, Angel Legrande, before turning the gun on three other women in the Norfolk Young Terrace neighborhood back in November of 2021. The three victims who died were Nicole Lovewine, Detra Brown, and Sara Costine.
In court, prosecutors presented several pieces of evidence from the crime scenes. The lead detective on this case testified he found a car at the shooting scene, which he learned belonged to Palmer's aunt. In the car, investigators recovered a cell phone that belonged to Palmer.
The investigators testified they analyzed his phone using their data system and found a picture of a handgun matching the image of the one they found in the grass right next to the car.
Prosecutors then showed a video of a person in a car who resembled Palmer with a mask over his nose and mouth, pointing a semi-automatic handgun right into the lens and then waving it around as he rapped in a car to music.
The lead detective identified that handgun as resembling the same one they found on the scene.
Prosecutors also distinctly pointed out what the person in the video was wearing. They pulled a tan sweatshirt out of a paper bag that detectives collected from the crime scene and matched the color and the logo to what the person they identified as Palmer is wearing the in cell phone video.
In addition to the shooting, Palmer is accused of trying to steal a woman's Jeep near the crime scene on East Brambleton Avenue.
Police body camera footage presented to the jury showed people waving down officers on the street, telling them a young man wearing black pants and a white shirt tried taking a woman's car and then ran off.
The officers quickly searched the area in the direction to which the people pointed them. They then came upon Palmer walking calmly on the sidewalk. He was seen wearing dark pants and a white shirt with vertical stripes across it.
Officers who testified described Palmer's demeanor as calm and said when they checked his person for any weapons or evidence connected to the shooting, they did not find anything and let him go.
The lead detective told the jury he and his team searched the Jeep after the shooting and found a pink book bag on the front passenger side. Prosecutors showed images of the book bag and a paper tag attached to the zipper that had "Ziontay Palmer" written clearly on it.
Another officer testified about how he and another officer searching for the suspected shooter that night found Palmer at the corner by the Norfolk courthouse wearing the same clothing. They stopped him on the sidewalk where the body camera footage showed how Palmer was calm and cooperated. They checked his person and then let him go again when they did not find evidence.
None of the pieces of evidence presented in court were sent to forensics for DNA analysis, according to the lead detective. When asked why, the detective said he believed they had several strong enough testimonies to support their investigation and arrest of Palmer, he did not find it necessary to submit the evidence for DNA analysis.
Palmer's mother and stepfather also testified in court after the prosecution rested its case.
His mother, Latoya Palmer, told attorneys she was upstairs in her home when she received several calls from people, telling her Palmer's girlfriend and his girlfriend's mother were seriously hurt in a shooting.
She said she came downstairs to the living room to find Palmer with his friend. She said he appeared "calm," even when she told him about what she had heard.
Palmer's stepfather, Tracy Lewis, said he came home from work around 5:30 p.m. and did not see Palmer inside the house. He said he took a shower and after a certain period of time, he heard Palmer's mother upset. Lewis said he went downstairs to the living to find Palmer in a manner that he called "normal."
Both testified they then took Palmer to the police station to "clear his name." When they arrived, the lead detective came out and told his family he wanted to ask Palmer a few questions about the shooting.
That's when Palmer's family said not long after, he was taken into custody.
Prosecutors and Palmer's defense attorney both rested their cases late Thursday afternoon. They are scheduled to begin closing arguments Friday morning and a jury is then expected to deliberate on whether Palmer should or should not be found guilty on all 11 indictments.