Elijah Yussuf, the teen who accidentally shot his friend to death last year in Wilkes-Barre, took the witness stand this afternoon to testify against his mother, who is on trial for allegedly covering up the shooting.
Yussuf said the gun involved in the shooting was located in his mother's dresser in an unlocked safe that looked like a book. He said the safe was sometimes locked, but his mother, Angelina Deabreu, had previously given him the combination to open it, "000."
Yussuf, 14, said he played with the gun "a lot" and knew how to load and unload the gun from playing lots of video games.
Prosecutors showed video of Yussuf loading the gun while narrating how to perform.
The teenager described Winstead as a really good friend. On the day Winstead was shot, he said the two walked around Wilkes-Barre for a while then went back to his house at 117 Hill St.
"I wanted to show him my gun, er, the family's gun," Yussuf said. "I didn't know it was loaded. I aimed it at Tyler's chest and pulled the trigger."
Yussuf said nothing happened when he pulled the trigger the first time, so he pulled it again and a bullet struck Winstead in the middle of the chest.
Yussuf said he then "panicked" and dragged Winstead's body to the front of his home. He then told a passerby that his friend was shot in a drive-by shooting.
Yussuf said he then went in his house to call 911.
Yussuf said he lied out of fear.
"I was scared I'd be put in jail for the rest of my life," he said.
While trying to build the case of Deabreu's alleged cover-up, prosecutor Michelle Hardik showed the jury and Yussuf carpets in Deabreu's home with white bleach stains.
Yussuf said the white spots mark where Winstead's blood fell.
After the shooting, Yussuf said he put the gun back in the dresser. The gun was never recovered.
Hardik asked, "Do you know where the gun is now?"
"No," Yussuf replied.
"Do you know what happened to it?" Hardik asked.
"No," Yussuf said again.
Asked how the gun initially was removed from the house, Yussuf blurted out, "I think it was my mother."
Deabreu's defense attorney objected to the statement, saying he didn't know for sure and couldn't speculate.
Luzerne County Judge David Lupas advised the jury to disregard the comment.
Deabreu, 31, wasn't home at the time of the shooting.
In addition to concealing the gun and cleaning the scene with bleach, Deabreu advanced Yussuf's claim that Winstead was gunned down in a random, drive-by shooting, police said.
Deabreu, who backed out of the plea last year when she learned prosecutors were seeking jail time, is standing trial on charges of tampering with evidence, corruption of minors and two counts each of making false reports to police and hindering prosecution.
Yussuf is lodged in juvenile detention on an involuntary manslaughter charge in connection with the shooting death of Winstead.