(NewsNation) — Witness testimony resumed on day two of the trial of Kaitlin Armstrong, who is accused in the May 2022 shooting death of professional cyclist Anna Moriah “Mo” Wilson.
Armstrong, 35, who had allegedly been involved in a love triangle between herself, her boyfriend and Wilson, faces first-degree murder charges. She is also charged with second-degree felony escape causing bodily injury after she ran from corrections officers while leaving a medical appointment outside the jail two weeks ago.
Officers chased Armstrong for 10 minutes before she was restrained and returned to custody.
Police said Wilson, 25 years old and a Vermont native, had previously dated Armstrong’s boyfriend, Colin Strickland, a competitive gravel racer.
Wilson was found unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head May 11, 2022 at a friend’s Austin, Texas home. Unidentified at the time, she died at the scene.
During opening testimony in Armstrong’s trial Wednesday, Wilson’s brother, Matthew, took the stand, along with Caitlin Cash, the friend who found her body and performed CPR on Wilson before police took over, and various first responders.
Armstrong’s mother and father were in court Thursday, telling NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello that they were doing as well as they can be given the circumstances. Both said they would be there for the length of the trial, and that family members are supporting them during this time.
Homicide Detective Rolando Ramirez of the Austin Police Department was the first witness to take the stand Thursday, with defense attorneys asking him about the detectives’ process when investigating.
Defense attorneys asked if Ramirez notes timecodes when he discovers new evidence, and when he files his reports after investigating a scene.
Ramirez said his philosophy for investigating a death is to not let responding officers tell what happened at a crime scene, but to let evidence show that instead.
Two crime scene specialists with the Austin Forensic Science Department, Caitlan Longoria and Katie Ferrara, testified about how they responded to the scene where Wilson was found dead. NewsNation local affiliate KXAN notes forensic science is a standalone department, not part of the Austin Police Department.
Longoria took more than 400 photographs of the crime scene, some of which were shown in the trial.
Ferrara was responsible for collecting evidence the night Wilson was killed, including a bicycle found in a grass patch near the crime scene.
During the trial Thursday, that bike was brought into the courtroom, wrapped in a plastic bag. Cash had identified the bike as Wilson’s during her testimony Wednesday. Prosecutors reassembled Wilson’s bike in court and said Armstrong’s DNA was found on it.
The defense questioned the packaging and transportation of the bike from the crime scene to the Austin Police Department. Ferrara said she did not remember who was in charge of the bike’s delivery to the department.
Sgt. Timothy Price of the Austin Police Department was the next to testify about the night of the shooting.
When Price and his team got to the crime scene, they decided they should check the bike for possible fingerprints, he testified Thursday. When he entered the apartment, Price saw Wilson’s body on the bathroom floor. Though there were spent shell casings on the floor, Price said the apartment was clean otherwise.
A medical examiner, Price said, was the only one to touch Wilson’s body or manipulate her positioning. Price oversaw the process. The medical examiner, Price testified, noticed smaller injuries on Wilson’s right index finger and on one of her legs. There were also defects on her ear and chin, he noted.
During the exam, the medical examiner located a projectile in Wilson’s hair, which was turned over to Ferrara. Price said the medical examiner told him Wilson’s body had three gunshot wounds: Two in the head and face area and one in her chest.
Price testified he tried to make contact with the apartment’s landlord, David Harris, who lives in a separate house in front of the property. Prosecutors asked Price if there was a reason to go into Harris’ home, to which Price answered no, adding that Harris was calm, helpful, non-evasive and unaware of what had happened in the other apartment.
Harris was another witness who testified Thursday. He told the court he remembers seeing ambulances pull up to his neighborhood, and police near his unit, but did not inquire about them.
After Harris went to bed, he said, two police officers knocked on his door and he cooperated with them. That was the only contact Harris had with police until the following Saturday, when he approached a plainclothes police officer talking to neighbors.
Harris said he wanted to let the officer “know what I know,” since he’d had time to reflect over that night, and realized he might have more information.
In his conversation with the Austin Police Department, Harris recollected that the night of the shooting, he’d gone into the garage and heard someone rush downstairs, then leave.
He said he may have heard the killer fleeing on Wilson’s bicycle, which was later found in a bamboo forest near the crime scene.
Prosecutors then played doorbell and home surveillance video from three of the neighbors. In each, a black SUV that prosecutors have previously said belonged to Armstrong can be seen driving through the neighborhood before 9 p.m. the day Wilson died.
In one video, screams can be heard, followed by gunshots about 30 minutes after the SUV is seen “slowly” driving through the neighborhood.
The defense asked the owner of that video, Michael Donlin — who now lives out-of-state — if he had ever seen Armstrong in person or on surveillance video. Donlin said no.
Court will resume again Friday at 9 a.m. CST.
This story is developing. Refresh for updates.
The Associated Press and NewsNation local affiliate KXAN contributed to this report.