Bryant Keene coolly took the stand, tilted his head with threatening confidence and locked eyes on the Columbia teen charged with murdering his best friend.
The undaunted defendant, Antajuan Wilson, glared back with a deliberate smirk, seemingly forgetting his own trial going on around him.
The ruthless staredown continued for more than an hour of tense testimony Tuesday in Howard Circuit Court, prompting sheriff’s deputies to stand vigilantly at their posts.
Wilson, 19, is on trial for the alleged premeditated murder of Bryan Adams, 20, after an altercation April 9 near the Wilde Lake Village Center on Twin Rivers Road.
He has said he shot Adams in self-defense after wrestling away a gun that Adams had pulled on him.
But Keene, a key eyewitness for the state in proving Wilson’s guilt, testified that Adams did not have a gun — Wilson did.
The murder weapon was never found.
Keene testified that he, Adams and Brandon Mitchell got into altercation with Wilson at a Crown gas station on Twin Rivers Road where they accused Wilson of “mugging,” or staring at them.
Wilson walked away from the fight, Keene said, but he returned a few minutes later to confront them.
“He pulled out a gun [from his pocket] … I was thinking of anything to get us out of this situation,” Keene said without breaking his eye contact with Wilson.
Keene testified that Adams taunted Wilson to shoot, saying, “If you gonna bang it, then bang it.”
He said Wilson responded, “You think I won’t bang it?” and opened fire on Adams before running away.
Keene said he held Adams dying in his arms while Mitchell called 911.
Under cross examination, defense attorney Mary Pizzo questioned whether Keene’s “loyalty” to Adams affected his credibility. She also cited the fake name Keene gave police to avoid being arrested on an outstanding warrant for disorderly conduct.
As Keene left the courtroom, he turned his stare to Wilson’s family and friends, prompting a brief skirmish with one man.
Mitchell also reluctantly testified Tuesday after Howard Circuit Judge Richard Bernhardt issued an order for him to appear in court immediately.
His testimony corroborated Keene’s account that Wilson pulled the gun — not Adams.
Mitchell’s call to 911 was played aloud in court, in which he tells the operator, “My man’s been shot” and begins shouting “Bryan! Bryan, lie still!”
Adams died at Howard County General Hospital.
Wilson faces up to life in prison.
