CHARLESTON, West Virginia -
Trial began Monday for a man accused of beating his girlfriend by the side of the Interstate while his son was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle.
Ethan Chic-Colbert has been charged with kidnapping, domestic battery, murder, child neglect resulting in death and child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury and death.
In his opening statements, assistant Kanawha County prosecutor Dan Holstein said Chic-Colbert dragged his girlfriend, Lynitrah Woodson, out of the car, straddled her and punched her with both fists. Holstein said Chic-Colbert left the scene after the fight and did not return.
Meanwhile, Holstein said, their 11-year-old son Jahlil Clements ran from the car across two lanes of traffic to try to flag down motorists.
"The car struck him, threw him and caused fractures to his skull and brain swelling. He was pronounced dead later that day," Holstein said.
"The death occurred during the commission of kidnapping," Holstein later added. "The defendant is guilty not just for child neglect but for kidnapping into the middle of the interstate and for Jahlil's death that occurred in the middle of the interstate."
However, Chic-Colbert's attorney, Justin Collins, said Woodson started the fight, stopped the car in the middle of the road, told Chic-Colbert to get out of the car and fought with him in the middle of the road.
"Even if you did believe the (prosecutor's) entire story, they still haven't proven kidnapping. … The evidence does not prove murder or any other charges," he said."
Collins said Chic-Colbert later left to get away from Woodson.
"This was a horrible accident where a child lost a life," Collins said. "Ethan did not cause this accident. Jahlil's death was not his fault."
Prosecutor's first witness was Clements' friend, who was sitting in the backseat of the car when the fight happened.
The State Journal has a policy of not identifying children in court proceedings.
Clements' friend said he remembered the night Clements died. He said that night after getting food at a local restaurant, he saw Chic-Colbert punch Woodson in the jaw.
"He kept hitting her and hitting her. She said please stop," he said.
"She tried to stop and put the car in park but it rolled back in the median and hit the median. That's when Jahlil jumped up and tried to him but it didn't do anything," he added.
The friend said Chic-Colbert drug Woodson from the car out of the passenger door in the road and Clements tried to get help.
That's when he saw the car strike his friend, he said.
In his cross examination, Collins asked Clements' friend if he saw Woodson hit Chic-Colbert during the fight but the friend said he did not.
Prosecutors then called two Fayette County motorists to the stand. The first, Mary Crist said she first saw the car moving backward across to the median. She said she saw a man on top of another person, fighting.
Crist's friend, Marcy Ball was later called.
Ball said they first thought someone had broken down in the road. Later, she said she saw Chic-Colbert hitting another person.
"He was in the road, straddling her, hitting her with both of his fists. Then he took her by the head and slammed it against the road," she said.
"The other person was getting their butt kicked pretty good. … I don't know how many times. … There were several punches threw and I told my friend to give me the cell phone," Crist said.
When Ball walked to her car to retrieve her phone, she said she saw the car strike Clements.
"I seen the little boy being hit," she said. "He looked like a pretzel. … It threw him up in the air and we went toward him."
She said Chic-Colbert passed between her and her friend on his way over the guardrail. Ball said Chic-Colbert ran passed them, "coming within a hair of knocking us down."
"Two little boys came running. … I held the little boy's hand. My friend said, ‘come on, look at me,' and his eyes rolled back in his head."
In his cross examination, Collins asked Crist if she had trouble focusing the night of the accident. Crist responded she thought the night was crazy but "not enough to not know what was going on."
Collins then asked Crist if she had identified Chic-Colbert without seeing his face during the preliminary hearing. Crist said Chic-Colbert had something covering his face at the time of the hearing.
"The first time you identified him, you didn't see his face?" Collins asked.
"I saw part of his face," she answered.
"But not the whole face," Collins asked. "You identified him by the top of his head?"
Crist said she didn't identify him until he uncovered his face.
Prosecutors also called Clyde Brown, the man who struck Clements. Brown said he was heading home when he saw a car with its hazards flashing in the middle of the road. He said to avoid the car, he swerved in the next lane and hit Clements.
"I stopped the car and I didn't have a phone so I told the kids to dial 911," he said.
Brown said Clements head struck the windshield and he could see Clements' body twisted in the road.
At the end of the first day of trial, prosecutors played three 911 calls placed the night of the accident. During the calls, Chic-Colbert covered his face with his blazer, wiping his eyes with a tissue.
One caller in the recording reported a man dead in the road.
"Oh my God, I think he's dead," the caller said. "He was run plum over… knocked in the air."
The caller later said, "I think it's a kid."
Another caller recounted a man and woman fighting in the road.
Trial will continue July 10 before Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
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