SAN ANTONIO – A man testified in a murder trial Thursday that he was forced at gunpoint to drive a getaway car moments after a teenager was shot to death.
Taelur Thomas said that Robert Allen, 26, jumped into the backseat of his car in the parking lot of a Northeast Side Whataburger on the evening of Nov. 20, 2017.
Allen (pictured, below) is on trial in connection with the shooting death of Noel Reyna, 15, who was with several other teens in the parking lot.
Seconds after the shot was fired, Thomas said that Allen, who was carrying an assault rifle, jumped into his car.
"He's like, 'Drive, drive, drive!'" Thomas said.
Thomas testified that he didn't see anyone with a gun earlier, but heard a single shot seconds before Allen got into his car.
"He had his gun. He said, 'Drive!' He had it pointed towards me," Thomas said. "I'm scared, so I'm gonna do whatever they tell me to do."
Thomas said he dropped Allen off at the defendant's home. Thomas then notified his parents, who called police.
Police said the shooting followed a disturbance among a group of teens who had gathered at the restaurant following a vigil earlier that evening for a friend who had been killed the day before.
Reyna was shot while trying to break up a fight among other teens in the parking lot, police said.
Allen claimed that Reyna had a gun and that he fired in self-defense.