SAN ANTONIO – At the outset of the capital murder trial of Derrick Hunt, 19, prosecutors said Hunt ran to his grandparents home after he killed a cab driver.
On Wednesday, Hunt's grandfather, William Bell, testified that his memory of that visit was clouded by health issues.
He said he had suffered a stroke.
Hunt (pictured) is accused of shooting cabbie John Dexter, 49, to death, after robbing him of $19.
The killing occurred just a couple of blocks from Bell's home.
Bell said he remembered Hunt coming to his home just after 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2011, but little more.
His answers to most questions was, "I cannot recall."
"Right now, Your Honor, I'm going to take the 5th, because I really don't recall a lot of stuff and I don't want to be saying something that I have no idea about," he told Judge Melisa Skinner.
"You understand that if you are asked a question, the answer to which will not incriminate you, you have to answer that question," Skinner advised Bell.
He replied that he did.
Bell still insisted he could not remember much about that night.
So Skinner allowed prosecutor David Lunan to read to the jury the statement Bell gave to police.
In it, he said Hunt did not appear nervous, upset or out of breath when he arrived at his home. And said nothing about the slaying.
Though Hunt is charged with capital murder, the state is not seeking the death penalty.
A guilty verdict will mean life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Testimony will continue in Skinner's court on Thursday.
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