Jurors in the murder trial of an 18-year-old Sulphur man not only heard witness testimony Tuesday but were also shown photographs, video and the weapon involved.
Antonieo Smith is facing second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated burglary and armed robbery charges. He is accused of stabbing Robert and Rita Anderson multiple times at their Majestic Pines Drive home in Sulphur on May 16 and then fleeing in their pickup truck, which authorities said he later flipped on Broad Street after colliding with other vehicles. Rita Anderson survived the attack while Robert Anderson was pronounced dead at West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital.
On Tuesday, Angie Miller, a neighbor of the Andersons, testified to seeing a figure running toward Robert Anderson as he was coming out of his truck but couldn’t clearly see the person. She said she dialed 911 after quickly taking her 2-year-old son into her home and ran back outside as the wheels of the truck were squealing. Miller said she then saw Robert Anderson on the ground with Rita Anderson next to him.
Defense attorney Andrew Casanave asked Miller if she had ever been around Smith. She said she had and that she had never found him to be violent. Miller also said she trusted Smith with her young son.
Mark Trahan testified that he had just turned onto Majestic Pines Drive to go to his mother’s home, where he lived at the time, when he saw Rita Anderson “hollering and waving” and Robert Anderson on the ground.
He also said he had looked Smith “in the face as he was leaving in the truck.” Smith, he said, had worked with him previously at McDonald’s.
Trahan was emotional as he described trying to help Robert Anderson. At one point, Trahan attempted to do CPR on the injured man, whom he believed to be dying. “He told Rita that he loved her, and then he was quiet and gasping for air,” he said.
Trahan’s girlfriend, Alysa Lawrence, was with him at the time. She assisted Rita Anderson, who was “bleeding everywhere,” she said.
Dr. Steven Castleberry testified later that Rita Anderson had 12 to 14 stab wounds, with the most serious one in her upper abdomen. He also described an injury to her pancreas and said he had to put her intestines “back together.”
Prosecutor Rick Bryant had Calcasieu Parish Deputy Brandon Peresich identify the weapon used in the attack — a kitchen knife that had come from inside the Andersons’ home. Peresich said the weapon had been left near the Andersons’ driveway about 3 feet from where Robert Anderson had been found.
Jurors were also led through a video taken by investigators of the Anderson home. Several items were pointed out by Detective Beth McGee, including many that had been shown to jurors earlier in still photographs. McGee noted furniture pieces that had been sliced or gutted, including all three mattresses; various appliance cords that had been cut up; a thermostat and several pictures that had been torn off the walls; a backpack believed to be Smith’s that contained a hair pick, screwdriver, an old knife, BB gun and a lighter; and various substances that had been thrown on the floor, including soap and vegetable oil. She said there was a pervasive smell of bleach throughout the house.
McGee also pointed out a bicycle found in the back of the Andersons’ home that authorities believe Smith rode from his mother’s home on Lori Lane, some six miles away. She said witnesses had placed him on the bicycle traveling along La. 27 in Sulphur before the incident.
A dashboard camera video belonging to Deputy Freddy Galicia was shown to jurors of Smith driving recklessly in the Andersons’ truck just before overturning it on Broad Street near Interstate 210. Galicia also testified to witnessing Smith colliding with other vehicles before crashing it. He said Smith jumped out of the vehicle through the broken passenger window and ran from the scene.
Galicia said he caught Smith and asked him why he ran. “He said that he stole the vehicle,” he said.
Galicia said he didn’t know about the Sulphur incident until officers arrived at Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, where he took Smith to be looked at after the car wreck.
Smith’s trial continues at 9 a.m. today before Judge David Ritchie.
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