One of the defendants in the murder of 18-year-old Grant Watkins testified against his friends during a preliminary hearing Thursday.
Keenan Blackmore, 19, took the stand Thursday to tell the court his side of the story about what happened the night Watkins was murdered.
Reed Skenandore, 21; Jesus Garcia-Manriquez, 18; Allen Garcia-Manriquez, 19; Jonathan Skenandore, 18; Daniel Lease, 20; and Jacob Huttman, 19 are all in Judge John Tatro’s Justice Court for their preliminary hearing for the Jan. 11 murder of Watkins.
Reed Skenandore, Jesus Garcia-Manriquez and Huttman are all charged with felony open murder, felony murder with the use of a deadly weapon committed in the perpetration of a robbery, felony robbery with a deadly weapon, felony attempted murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery. Jonathan Skenandore, Lease, Allen Garcia-Manriquez were all arrested on accessory to commit murder and accessory to robbery. Blackmore and one other juvenile also were arrested.
Watkins was killed after being shot in the abdomen in an early morning drug deal-turned-robbery, detectives said. Detectives believe Watkins was meeting with Reed, Jesus Garcia-Manriquez, Keenan Blackmore, Jonathan Skenandore and Huttman around 12:30 a.m. at Blackwell’s Pond Park to sell the men three ounces of marijuana when one of the three shot Watkins.
Blackmore was being charged with felony accessory charges, however, he took a plea deal with the District Attorney’s office and testified against his codefendants. Blackmore was allegedly on scene at the time of the murder, though didn’t witness the actual murder, he told the court.
He was with everyone but Allen Garcia-Manriquez, the night of the murder, and knew they had a “quick come up” — meaning they were going to go and take marijuana product or money from someone. Much of Blackmore’s testimony mirrored that of Brandon McGee’s, another acquaintance who testified Tuesday he overheard the plans for the robbery and murder before and after the event.
McGee has testified Reed Skenandore shot and killed Watkins.
The District Attorney only got to question Blackmore before the court recessed for the day, but planned on finishing the cross examination today.
The five-day long preliminary hearing is expected to conclude today, with Judge Tatro deciding if there’s enough sufficient evidence to charge the seven with their crimes.