Gunshot victim: Man was ‘paranoid’ before killing owner of Lansing recording studio
LANSING TWP. — Anthony Anderson Jr. seemed "bothered and a little paranoid" after arriving for a session at the recording studio owned by Curshawn "Kaz" Terrell on Dec. 31, 2022, but there were no arguments or signs of trouble between him, Terrell and the engineer for the session, Shaquille Brown.
That's according to Brown, who told a jury on Monday that Anderson, without any sort of provocation, pulled a black 9mm handgun from a pants pocket, shot Brown in the chest and then shot Terrell in another room.
"He told me I was a good dude and said this is not no bipolar shit," Brown said on the first day of Anderson's trial on murder, assault with intent to murder and other charges.
The shooting happened at 51 Sessions, a recording studio in the basement of a mixed-use building on East Michigan Avenue at Detroit Street. After being shot, Terrell tried to escape but collapsed in a doorway leading to a parking lot. He was dead at the scene. Brown locked himself in a back room after being shot and was later found by police and paramedics who pried open a locked steel door to get into the studio.
Anderson, 29, was arrested a few days later after being involved in a traffic crash in the Saginaw area. At least some of the events on Dec. 31 in Lansing Township ,were captured on the studio's video surveillance system.
"This is not an identification trial; it's not a whodunnit," Ingham County Prosecutor John Dewane said in his opening statement. There is no question Anderson was the gunman, he said.
The only two issues in the trial are Anderson's state of mind when he shot Brown and "what degree of murder is he guilty of when he killed Kaz," Dewane said.
Anderson robbed Terrell of his cellphone, making the killing first-degree, felony murder, Dewane told the jury. It's also first-degree, premeditated murder, "cause he's there to kill people," the prosecutor said.
Anderson is representing himself in the trial, with an assistant Ingham County public defender on hand to assist him. He did not make an opening statement as the trial began.
Brown, 30, testified that he had worked with Anderson several times prior, and that Anderson had booked studio time on the day of the shooting. Anderson told Brown there were people looking for him and expressed concerns about security. Brown said he sympathized with Anderson and arranged for that day's session to be provided free.
But as they were preparing for the session, Anderson pulled the handgun from a pocket, pointed it at Brown's chest and pulled the trigger, Brown said. The gunman then went after Terrell, who was in another room, and shot him, too, Brown said.
"I heard Kaz say, 'Don't shoot, don’t shoot,'" he testified.
The gunshot to Brown's chest pierced a lung and missed his heart by a couple of inches, and Brown was in the hospital for nearly a month, according to testimony.
Anderson began cross-examining Brown on Monday afternoon. The arrangement led to an unusual exchange.
"Can you describe the defendant?" Anderson asked.
"You," Brown replied.
The trial before Ingham County Circuit Judge Jim Jamo was expected to take about a week.
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Gunshot victim: Man was ‘paranoid’ before killing owner of Lansing recording studio
