Trial begins in Elgin car ramming murder
About 4 p.m. Nov. 8, 2009, Vetedia James was standing on her porch in Elgin when she heard a loud crash near the three-story apartment complex on the 200 block of Center Street.
She ran across the street and saw a crowd gathered around a teenager on the ground. But instead of helping the mortally wounded teen, who she later learned was 17-year-old John W. Keyes III, people in the crowd were hitting him.
“At first I thought it was people trying to help him. When I saw what was going on, I realized it wasn't an accident,” James testified in court Monday in the trial of a Streamwood woman accused of using her car to run down her son's rival.
If convicted of first-degree murder, 35-year-old Timera Branch could be sentenced to 60 years in prison. Her son Lacorbek Benion, 17, also faces murder charges and will be tried separately.
Kane County Assistant State's Attorney Greg Sams said Branch's mission for revenge began the day before the lethal assault. Benion went to the hospital for stitches around his eye because Keyes had punched him at a party after Keyes danced with Benion's girlfriend.
“She decided to take matters into her own hands,” Sams said in his opening argument.
The next day, Branch saw Keyes near an apartment building and called her son, Sams said.
Aidaliz Figuereo, 18, a resident of the building, testified that she saw Branch's 1991 Chrysler Imperial accelerate toward Keyes, strike him in the back while he was running away, and crash into the building and a nearby electrical box.
Figuereo, who knew Keyes, Benion and Branch, testified that she saw a second car containing three men pull up.
“They walked toward John, and that's when Lacorbek hit him with the baseball bat,” Figuereo said, adding that Benion yelled, “Talk (trash) now,” as he struck Keyes.
Dr. Larry Blum, a forensic pathologist who reviewed Keyes' autopsy, said the teen died of massive internal trauma caused by “vehicular impact.” Blum said Keyes had linear-like scratches on his back that matched the bumper of Branch's car.
Elgin police officer Joshua Ziegler testified that evidence technicians found pieces of Branch's car at the scene, such as a chrome trimmed parking light.
Officer Jason Lentz also testified that Keyes' metal studded black leather belt also left a pattern on the bumper on Branch's car.
William Herbert, 16, of Chicago, whose older sister was dating Keyes at the time, testified that Keyes and Benion fought at a party and that three men — armed with a baseball bat and crowbar — beat Keyes the next day after he was struck by Branch's car.
At one point, the trial was delayed for nearly 10 minutes when Branch began crying after prosecutors showed a picture of the front of her car, which was severely damaged and had blood on the chrome bumper.
The picture was shown during testimony from Elgin police Sgt. Frank Trost, who saw Branch's damaged car at a nearby gas station shortly after the crash. Trost testified that he stopped Branch, her sister and Branch's 13-year-old son as they walked away from the car.
At one point, Branch admitted she was the driver but didn't volunteer any more information, saying she would let a judge decide, Trost testified.
Instead of a jury trial, Branch has opted for a bench trial before Judge Allen Anderson, who will decide her innocence or guilt.
The state is expected to rest its case Tuesday. Defense attorney Liam Dixon has deferred his opening argument until then.