Posted 10:52 am Thursday, April 24, 2008
Defendant Allegedly Ran Over Victim With Vehicle
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
A 34-year-old Irving man was on trial in Smith County on Wednesday for allegedly taking his ex-girlfriend's money and phone during a scuffle, then running over her with his vehicle.
Staff Writer
A 34-year-old Irving man was on trial in Smith County on Wednesday for allegedly taking his ex-girlfriend's money and phone during a scuffle, then running over her with his vehicle.
Christopher Earl Booker is charged with aggravated robbery, allegedly committed on Aug. 12, 2006. A Smith County jury began hearing evidence in the first-degree felony case in 7th District Judge Kerry Russell's court.
Latasha Taylor testified about the incident and the jurors were shown photographs of her injuries, which included tire tracks on her legs and broken foot and ankle bones.
During opening statements, Assistant Smith County District Attorney Peter Keim said the defendant dated Ms. Taylor and he owed her money when they broke up. He said Booker gave her some expensive watches as security that he would pay her back. The day before the incident, they met at the police department to try and resolve the dispute but weren't able to, he said.
On Aug. 12, 2006, Booker called Ms. Taylor to meet to exchange money for the watches. In the parking lot of a Tyler salon, Keim said Ms. Taylor tried to exchange the property but Booker took his watches and the money. During a struggle, some of the money was ripped and the defendant took Ms. Taylor's cell phone, he said.
Booker grabbed the victim's arm and held her to the side of his Lincoln Navigator. As he backed his vehicle up, he let her fall to the ground and "ran over her like a dog," Keim said.
Booker never checked on Ms. Taylor or called for help. Instead, he drove to the police department to get his story out to police first, Keim said. While stealing her money and her cell phone, Booker caused bodily injury to the victim with his vehicle - a deadly weapon, he said, asking the jurors to find Booker guilty of aggravated robbery. He said the jurors would have to decide who and what they believed in the case.
Defense attorney Clifton Roberson told jurors a different version of what happened.
He said Booker and Ms. Taylor were having an intimate relationship in August 2006 when they got into an argument over Ms. Taylor taking Booker's cell phone.
He said she demanded money in return for the cell phone and the next day, he discovered his watches were gone. When Ms. Taylor wouldn't return them, Booker filed charges with Tyler police, Roberson said. But after Ms. Taylor told police she didn't have the watches but left money at Booker's house, they police said they couldn't do anything, he said.
Later, Ms. Taylor called Booker and told him to meet her with money in exchange for his watches. During the meeting, the two got into an argument and the watches fell underneath Booker's vehicle, he said. He got out of his car and attempted to retrieve them when Ms. Taylor jumped on him. Money and clothing was torn during the scuffle and Ms. Taylor threw her cell phone at the defendant, he said.
As Booker tried to drive away, she grabbed on to the rail of his vehicle and fell off. Booker went to the police department, unaware he had run over her, and took everything he thought was evidence to police, Roberson said.
He said after Booker was charged with aggravated robbery, police were still questioning Booker and Ms. Taylor about the theft of the watches.
He said after the jurors heard all of the evidence, he would ask them to find his client not guilty.
VICTIM TESTIFIES
Ms. Taylor testified she met Booker in 2004 or 2005 and the two talked on and off until they began dating in 2005. After losing contact with each other, they began dating again in 2006 and Booker, who lived in Dallas, began living in Tyler.
Ms. Taylor testified she met Booker in 2004 or 2005 and the two talked on and off until they began dating in 2005. After losing contact with each other, they began dating again in 2006 and Booker, who lived in Dallas, began living in Tyler.
She said a few days before the incident, she was spending the night at Booker's house and after she looked at his cell phone and discovered he'd been calling other women, she asked him to take her home but he wouldn't, she said.
She said she gave him his phone before she left and she had a friend pick her up.
Ms. Taylor said she loaned Booker $140 for gas and groceries; money she was given by her grandmother to buy her children school clothes.
She said Booker gave her some watches as collateral that he would pay her back.
On Aug. 12, 2006, they agreed to meet in the parking lot of a Tyler salon to exchange the money for the watches, she said. Ms. Taylor handed him the watches and he handed her the money, but then tried to snatch the cash out of her hands, she said. Ms. Taylor said he grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her closer to his truck, before he opened the door and got out of his vehicle.
She said they began tussling and after he got into his vehicle, she walked up to it to get her cell phone back from him to call police. He was holding onto her arm, which was inside the window of the vehicle, when he started backing up, she said, adding that she was hitting him with her free hand. When he let her arm go, she fell and was run over by the vehicle, she said.
Witnesses testified about seeing Booker run over Ms. Taylor's legs and drive away from the parking lot.
A Tyler doctor testified about treating Ms. Taylor's injuries, which included a broken foot bone and a fractured ankle bone that required surgery.
The jurors were shown photographs of the victim's injuries. Tire tracks on her thigh and legs were clearly visible and her pink shirt was torn. She said there was a shoe print on the back of her shirt from Booker trying to keep her down on the ground during the scuffle.
She said her foot is doing better now but she can't run and still has sharp pains.
The jury will continue hearing evidence on Thursday. Assistant District Attorney Richard Crowther is also prosecuting the case.
