HAMILTON — Darrell Wyatt said he doesn't know for sure if Sedrick Franklin, then 16, fired the shots that killed Bruce “Pappy” Hennig July 5.

        But Mr. Wyatt, 36, of Hamilton says he's sure Mr. Franklin did point a handgun after a crack-cocaine deal went sour at 9th and Ludlow streets in Hamilton.

        Mr. Wyatt's testimony Wednesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court launched the prosecution's case against Mr. Franklin. Now 17, the Hamilton youth is being tried as an adult on charges of murder in the shooting of Mr. Hennig and felonious assault against Mr. Wyatt.

        Mr. Franklin also was indicted on charges of trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine, which will be considered later.

        In the July 5 incident, Mr. Wyatt said he confronted Mr. Franklin for selling him “fleece,” or fake drugs, and Mr. Franklin reached behind himself, presumably for a weapon. Mr. Wyatt says he retreated toward his car, where Mr. Hennig was sitting in the passenger seat.

        “I turned around and looked, and (Mr. Franklin) was pointing a gun at me. ... I just heard pop-pop-pop as I was driving off,” Mr. Wyatt said.

        Then Mr. Wyatt realized that Mr. Hennig, 58, of West Chester Township, had been shot.

        “How did you know he had been shot?” asked Assistant Prosecutor Craig Hedric.

        “Because there was blood all over him,” Mr. Wyatt responded, and dropped his head.

        Mr. Wyatt said he hasn't used illegal drugs since the shooting.

        Defense attorney Carl Lewis, who is expected to present evidence on Mr. Franklin's behalf today, says his client was only one of several people who were in the area at the time of the shooting. Further, he said, it was night, so witnesses might have had a tough time seeing who was firing the shots. “Where is the proof and evidence that he fired the gun?” Mr. Lewis asked.

        Mr. Hedric countered, “The only person with a gun that night was Sedrick Franklin.”

        A jury of eight women and four men is hearing the case before Judge Michael J. Sage.

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