SOUTHAVEN, Miss — It took a jury less than an hour to find the man accused of shooting up a Southaven Walmart in 2019 guilty on all three counts.
Thursday, Martez Abram took the stand in his own defense, but it's not clear if he did himself any favors.
As the video of the 2019 shooting replayed in court, Martez Abram broke down. “That’s you shooting him, right?” asked prosecutors.
“Yes,” said Abram, visibly upset.
“Look at the screen, Sir. That’s you shooting him?” asked the prosecution.
Abram responded, “Yes.”
Abram took the stand in the final day of trial for the murder of Anthony Brown and Brandon Gales. It happened in 2019 at a Southaven Walmart. Abram admitted to shooting both Brown and Gales as well as injuring a police officer.
Prosecutors asked, “You shot him again didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Abram.
Prosecutors argued Abram committed capital murder, a crime that carries the death penalty. They said he not only killed Brown and Gales but also committed arson to cover up evidence and to try to run away form the crime. In court, prosecutors showed a list Abram created with needed items such as gasoline, a container and a rental car.
Watch Abram's emotional testimony, and his sentencing, here:
“You admit you started the fire,” asked prosecutors.
“Yes,” said Abram.
“You admit you left your weapon there,” said prosecutors.
They also showed at least four gun magazines, ammo, a rifle, knife, and protect armor they said Abram took with him.
Abram said he had those guns in fear of his safety sighting problems at work and a car break-in. “I never had a gun before, but it had gotten to a point where I was scared that I was going to get hurt,” said Abram. He told the court he was suspended from work pending an investigation just days before the shooting.
He said on the day of the shooting, his memory went blank. “I remember running in. I remember that and I remember running out,” said Abram.
Both the prosecution and defense will be back in the courtroom Friday morning for “phase 2” where they will begin discussing sentencing for these three charges.