SAN ANTONIO — The trial of Otis McKane, who is accused of shooting and killing San Antonio Police detective Benjamin Marconi, entered its second day Tuesday.
Ricky Martinez had been pulled over by Marconi minutes before the murder, and he took the stand on Tuesday to describe what he saw.
"I asked him why I was getting pulled over, and he said I'll come and get back to you. But he never had a chance to make it back," he said, visibly shaken. "I just saw the flame coming out of the gun."
Martinez was in the car with his pregnant girlfriend and two children, and he believed the shooter was coming for them next.
"I told them to stay down, just stay down, don't move," he said.
Eventually he left his car and went to Marconi's cruiser, where he found his body.
"I wanted to help but I was afraid to help," he said. "What could – what should I have done to prevent that from happening? I wish I could've done something."
As the trial began Monday, McKane sat in the courtroom looking calm and attentive – even during certain moments of the trial when the state described how he allegedly murdered Marconi.
The state opened with a comprehensive overview of what happened November 20, 2016. 11:38 a.m. is when the prosecution said McKane shot Marconi twice in the head. Investigators said McKane had pulled up behind Marconi. The state stressed Marconi never saw it coming when McKane came up and shot him.
Marconi, a father and Floresville native, died from his wounds, despite massive efforts to save him.
The state detailed the efforts to save Marconi – from where the shooting happened in front of SAPD's headquarters to in the ambulance and at the hospital.
The state's first witness Monday was an expert from the city of San Antonio. He guided the court through videos from police headquarters surveillance cameras that showed McKane circling the area the morning of the shooting.
The prosecution said McKane was livid over a child custody issue and felt the need to "soothe his soul" and lash out at somebody.
"Those words, 'It felt good to shoot him,' came out of this defendant's mouth when he was being patted down at the magistrate's office detention center after he was arrested for the capital murder of San Antonio police officer Benjamin Marconi," Tamara Strauch, prosecuting attorney, told the jury.
The District Attorney has said he will seek the death penalty in this case. McKane faces life in prison or death by lethal injection if convicted.