‘There is no more cowardly way to murder someone’: Lawyers debate shooter’s identity at end of Pittsburg murder trial

MARTINEZ — The destiny of a 54-year-old Antioch man accused of killing a 47-year-old Pittsburg man in an ambush greater than three years in the past now rests within the palms of a Contra Costa County jury.

Darrin “Mississippi” Lynch is charged with the homicide of Andrew McCoy, who was shot to demise Could 6, 2019, on Shoreline Drive in Pittsburg. Prosecutors contend that GPS proof from Lynch’s cellphone, surveillance video close to the scene of the capturing and witness testimony establish Lynch as McCoy’s killer.

Lynch’s lawyer, in the meantime, maintains it’s unattainable to inform who killed McCoy, that two key witnesses are “liars” who had been “spoon fed” tales by police and that digital proof is extra difficult than prosecutors make it appear.

“If you wish to get justice for Andy McCoy, then do proper by Darrin Lynch. …Inform the police, ‘Get the appropriate man,’ ” Lynch’s lawyer, Austin Thompson, instructed jurors Monday.

Based on Deputy District Lawyer Jennifer Tompkins, GPS information present Lynch travelled from downtown Pittsburg to the scene of the capturing and concurrent surveillance video reveals a person with a cellphone leaving the primary space and getting right into a pickup truck. Tompkins mentioned just a little earlier than midnight on the day of the capturing, Lynch waited in a bush for 2 minutes, hopped out when he noticed McCoy, yelled “Hey bro” and opened hearth, capturing him within the again.

“There is no such thing as a extra cowardly option to homicide somebody,” Tompkins mentioned.

One factor Tompkins couldn’t clarify was why the capturing occurred. She pointed to witness testimony that McCoy and Lynch had argued practically a month earlier close to the Pittsburg waterfront, and concluded that Lynch was merely a “self-important particular person” who “for some motive” determined to go after McCoy.

“Who is aware of why the defendant thought he had the appropriate to take Mr. McCoy’s life,” she mentioned. “Who is aware of why? We’re not going to know.”

Tompkins additionally referred to McCoy’s personal dying declaration. He reportedly instructed the primary officer to reach on the scene that his killer had a grey goatee, which Lynch had. McCoy was rushed to an space hospital however died the following morning.

Thompson accused the federal government of “cherry choosing” surveillance tapes and mentioned McCoy’s final phrases to police indicated he didn’t know his killer.

“He doesn’t say it’s Mississippi, he doesn’t say it’s the man from the marina, he doesn’t say it’s Darrin Lynch,” Thompson mentioned. “And he would have if it was.”