William Ellis
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The man who was originally charged with killing a toddler took the stand Wednesday and singled out the man he says actually pulled the trigger.
Alvin Alexander was arrested the night of the murder and held for more than two months.
He was the main suspect, mostly because of statements by Shariff Baker, one of the men at the center of this case, and other witnesses. Baker said he was afraid of being arrested himself and told police “what he thought they wanted to hear”. In October 2010, Mr. Alexander was released, and Royster was charged in the shooting.
Alexander told jurors that he heard and saw Ellis Royster fire a gun “probably about 10” times on Aug. 12, 2010.
“It was just pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,” he said. “I seen Ellis shooting, pointing his gun that way, shooting up the street.”
Police said Royster shot at a man driving down Eastbrook Road that he believed had taken his friend Shariff Baker’s money without handing over marijuana.
They said a stray bullet hit 2-year-old Amias Robinson, who was sitting in his stroller nearby with cousins. He was paralyzed and died a few days later.
On Wednesday, prosecutors brought the child’s blood-stained stroller into the courtroom.
“When he hit the curb and I see him fall out of the stroller,” Alexander said, “that’s when I knew I had to leave.”
Alexander said he also left because he had crack on him and was driving his girlfriend’s car without a license.
He said when he was told police were looking for him, he went with them to CMPD’s Law Enforcement Center in Uptown Charlotte. He said they questioned him, then arrested him for the shooting.
Prosecutors played emotional phone calls he made from jail, in which he cried or ranted to family and friends about the arrest. Jurors heard him say several times that Royster did it, not him.
Mr. Royster’s attorney tried to stir up doubt by suggesting that Mr. Alexander also had a gun on him the day of the shooting, the same kind of gun that killed baby Robinson. Mr. Alexander denied that fact.
The attorney also asked Alexander what he expected to receive for testifying.
“Just to clear my name of any wrongdoing in this case,” he said.
