By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Testimony continued Friday morning in the first-degree murder trial of Robert Douglas Earnhardt, who is charged in the death of his stepfather, Billy Tommy Elmore.
Witnesses told the court how they helped Tiffany Marie Barbee, who ran bleeding into Tamarac Marina on Sept. 17, 2009, not long after Elmore was killed at 165 Leisure Lane.
Barbee, who is the girlfriend of Elmore’s son, had driven him to the Leisure Lane home that day. After she was shot in the arm/wrist area, she drove to Tamarac Marina for help.
Ashley Honeycutt, an acquaintance of Barbee’s, was at the store getting gas with friends when a mutual acquaintance told the young woman Barbee appeared to be shot. Honeycutt told the court she was not a friend of Barbee’s but knew of her. Honeycutt testified that she went inside to help.
She sat with Barbee and talked to her in an effort to calm her. A friend of Honeycutt’s, Chris Hicks, also helped apply pressure to Barbee’s arm while EMS was enroute.
Hicks testified about what he’d seen that day and how he led Barbee into the store when he saw her jump out of her vehicle in front of the store. He had been on his way out of the store.
Detective Theresa Haupt also told the court she was the first law enforcement officer to reach the store. She assessed Barbee’s injuries and stayed with her. Haupt left once medics arrived so she could assist Sheriff’s Deputy W.T. Basinger, whom she believed to be the only law enforcement officer at Leisure Lane, with an active shooter. However, when Haupt arrived, Robert Earnhardt was already inside the officer’s patrol car.
Several witnesses have testified about the events on Sept. 17, 2009, including law enforcement, emergency responders and bystanders.
The trial this week at a glance:
• Jury selections began Monday morning as 12 men and women and two alternates were chosen. After opening statements from the attorneys, the first witness was called to testify.
• By Wednesday, neighbors had told the court they heard yelling, gunshots and screaming the day of the incident.
One neighbor, Mary Ann Lane, said after the shots were fired she and others heard screaming and what sounded like women wailing.
Lane lives on Sapona Drive, which is behind the Leisure Lane home where the shooting occurred.
• Deputy Basinger testified about being the first law enforcement officer on the scene of the shooting. The deputy placed Earnhardt, who was compliant, into his patrol vehicle. Basinger said Earnhardt told the deputy he was the shooter.
• A video taken by Sheriff’s Detective David Earnhardt of the crime scene was shown to jurors and narrated by the officer.
• Lt. Kevin Nail with Rowan EMS administered care, along with his partner, to Barbee. He noted there was concern about blood loss and the broken bones Barbee suffered from the entry and exit of shotgun pellets.
“She lost a lot of blood,” Nail testified.
Nail said Barbee was pale, crying and rambling about being shot and asking medics if she was going to be all right.
Barbee was taken to Rowan Regional Medical Center and later airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.
The medic rode with Barbee in the ambulance, but not inside the helicopter.
The District Attorney’s Office will continue next week with several more witnesses.
The trial also will include a chance for Earnhardt’s attorney, Jay White, to present evidence as it relates to his client.
The trial resumes on Monday at 9:30 a.m.
Contact reporter Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.