SAN ANTONIO – About two dozen UTSA students were attending a fraternity party on the evening of May 24, 2012 when a group of men showed up uninvited, according to prosecutors in the murder trial of Leandro Hill, 29.
A fistfight broke out, prosecutor Jessica Schultz told the jury Monday in her opening statement to the jury, then a single gunshot rang out.
READ MORE: SAPD: Mother turns in suspect in college party slaying
"He's turning away and he shoots him in the back," Schultz said pointing at Hill.
Randall Perkins, a guest at the party, was shot once in the back.
Michelle Quante testified that she was standing alongside Perkins.
"We hear a gunshot," she said. "He and I both fell to the ground and I look over and Randall's shot."
Quante said that she did not see who fired the fatal shot since she was focused on Perkins.
"I was trying to talk to him," she testified. "He was there, and then he wasn't."
She said that she asked him "Please, don't die."
During his opening statement to the jury defense attorney James Tocci said "They've got the wrong guy."
Gesturing toward Hill, he said "This is not the guy that shot Randall Perkins."
Tocci said that the shooter was a man known only as "Lil' D."
READ MORE: Man, 20, shot, killed at party
Hill was initially indicted in Perkins' murder in 2012, but the case was dropped because of missing witnesses.
He was re-indicted in 2017 and after several delays, the case began Monday.
A guilty verdict carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Testimony is expected to continue on Tuesday in Judge Ron Rangel's 379thDistrict Court.