SALISBURY — When challenged to a fistfight, Destin Sloan produced a gun — and his neighbor ended up dead, Assistant District Attorney Tim Gould told a jury Thursday.

“You don’t get to bring a gun to a fistfight, especially if the guy is walking away,” Gould said in his closing argument in Sloan’s trial on a charge of murdering 39-year-old Kerry Gray.

Gray was unarmed and insisted that Sloan “fight him like a man” as the two neighbors argued on July 13, 2014, Gould said.

Friends, family members and neighbors of both men testified that Gray brought baseball bats from his house but dropped them and insisted that Sloan, now 25, fight him with his fists. Those witnesses also said they missed parts of the argument because the men were partially obscured by Sloan’s pickup and a dumpster on the property.

But all the witnesses said they heard the two men arguing for several minutes before they heard multiple gunshots.

Rowan County detectives told the court that Sloan and Gray argued days before the final time. Testimony revealed that after shooting Gray, Sloan left with his baby and returned to the scene a short time later. Sloan had taken the child around the corner to the child’s mother.

“Destin Sloan wasn’t interested in a fair fight,” Gould said.

He said Sloan even hid the gun under his shirt when he first came outside. The prosecutor said Gray had no idea Sloan had a gun. He said Sloan intended to bait Gray into attacking him so Sloan could then shoot him.

Gould said even after the shooting when Sha’Heem Gray tried to check on his uncle, Sloan cursed at him. Sha’Heem Gray’s girlfriend, Caitlyn Vessells, testified that she tried to check on Kerry Gray after he fell to the ground. She said she was stopped in her tracks by Sloan, who cursed at her to get off his property and get Kerry Gray off the property as well.

Gould said Sloan’s recorded statement to law enforcement investigators didn’t match what witnesses said and what a partial video recording showed. Sloan’s neighbor, Michael Jenkins, recorded part of the encounter.

Sloan’s attorney, Darrin Jordan, said the prosecution is relying on the video, which he says is only a minute or two and doesn’t tell the full story. He said the entire incident lasted 10 to 15 minutes and the video amounted to a brief sound bite of a full account.

He compared the events of that day to chapters in a book. Jordan said the video that was mentioned multiple times throughout the trial was comparable to Chapter 3. In order to understand it, jurors had to take into account the chapters beginning with one.

Sloan said he and Gray argued about three to four weeks before the final confrontation. The dispute involved some of Gray’s relatives and one of Sloan’s friends. Gray returned that day to ask Sloan if he had a “beef” with him.

“Destin Sloan tells Kerry Gray to get the hell off my property,” Jordan said.

Sloan also told Gray he had his son with him and didn’t want to get into an altercation.

Jordan said prosecution witnesses couldn’t say what they saw because none of them saw the entire confrontation.

“Destin Sloan didn’t seek out Kerry Gray. Kerry Gray sought him,” Jordan said.

He said his client went back inside to get a gun thinking that Gray would leave, but he didn’t. Sloan kept trying to get Gray to leave, Jordan said.

Sloan fired a warning shot into the ground. Sloan told detectives that he fired a second shot at Gray but he does not believe he struck his neighbor.

He said Gray grabbed for the gun and tried to take it from him. Sloan told investigators that as he began falling to the ground, he fired two more shots at Gray.

Gray fell onto Sloan. Sloan got up and took his son to the mother’s house.

“Mr. Gould said Destin Sloan didn’t want a fair fight, but Mr. Sloan didn’t want a fight,” Jordan said.

Jordan said his client was not the aggressor but used necessary force to stop Gray.

“He didn’t have to use it until Mr. Gray forced him to use it,” Jordan said.

The trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. today.

Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.