Testimony: Before murder charge, 2 families argued over a fight at a Deaverview playground
ASHEVILLE - Before Amya Collington turned herself in to police, before Dexter Grant died, before the shooting, there was a seemingly minor issue: a fight between two children at a Deaverview playground.
That was according to testimony at Collington's first-degree murder trial Aug. 11, presided over by Superior Court Judge Daniel Kuehnert. The trial is likely to continue for many more days. Several witnesses were called Aug. 11. If convicted of first-degree murder, Collington faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Collington, 22, is alleged to have shot Grant, 25, multiple times at Pisgah View Apartments on the night of June 21, 2021. Grant died at Mission Hospital.
Details of what led to the alleged killing were sparse in court , but three witnesses — an APD detective, a relative of Grant's and his former girlfriend — all referenced an apparent argument between Collington's family and Grant's after two children from the two families physically fought at a Deaverview playground.
The argument, which included multiple adult members of both families, happened the same day Collington allegedly killed Grant.
"Well, I can tell you it escalated to the point of someone getting killed," Grant's aunt, Karon Grant, said in response to a question from Assistant District Attorney Amy Broughton.
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"We never thought it would go further than just there," she said.
"Y'all, let's just squash it," she remembered Dexter Grant saying before returning to Pisgah View.
Jurors watched a patchwork of Pisgah View surveillance videos Aug. 11, with attorneys pointing out details. Together, the videos appeared to show Collington firing shots, Grant collapsing and Collington leaving the scene before police arrived that rainy night.
"Oh, my God," Sierra Nesbitt, Grant's girlfriend, said at the start of a 911 call. "No! No! They killed my boyfriend. Oh, my God."
"You need to stop screaming," the dispatcher responded, before asking again for details.
AR-15 of interest
Whether Collington stepped forward, backward or both as she fired the shots was of interest to prosecutors and Collington's defense attorney alike. But different videos captured different angles, and some did not show the gunshots clearly.
"Depending on the angle, it can distort what you're seeing — forward, back, side to side," said Senior Police Officer Patrick DeStefano, who oversees Pisgah View and testified at the trial.
A broader question that will likely overshadow everything else in the coming days: whether the shooting was actually murder or self-defense.
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Collington's defense attorney, Chief Public Defender Sam Snead, made frequent reference to an AR-15 that Grant was pictured holding in one exhibit. That AR-15 was found at the scene, and could be the crux of an argument. Grant would keep it under his jacket, his girlfriend, Sierra Nesbitt, said during cross-examination. She also testified that he wore a jacket that night.
DeStefano testified that Grant was seen on surveillance video with an AR-15 June 14, apparently to the terror of some others at the complex. Police had warrants for communicating threats and going armed to the terror of the public in motion, DeStefano said.
Collington turned herself in to police June 22, 2021, the Citizen Times previously reported.
Her trial is scheduled to continue Aug. 12.
Ryan Oehrli is the breaking news and social justice reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Send tips to coehrli@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Before murder charge, families argued over Deaverview playground fight
