Trial: Man accused of killing Colorado Springs auto shop owner
Almost a year later from a brutal auto shop killing in Colorado Springs, one of the men accused in the crime, Eric Grant, appeared in court.
On Thursday, both the defense and prosecution laid out their opening statements and witness testimony surrounding the murder of George Maldonado Sr.
Grant appeared in court wearing a grey shirt with a black sweater. He casually walked in while looking Maldonado’s family and friends directly in the eyes.
Maldonado owned Full Throttle Auto Service and was killed during a robbery at the shop in July 2017. Police say Maldonado suffered traumatic injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Maldonado’s friend was also at the shop at the time of the robbery. He survived the attack but suffered traumatic injuries.
Opening statements – Prosecution
The prosecution team said the attack was deliberate, planned and senseless murder. They started by laying out the timeline of events that happened on July 13.
George Maldonado Sr. and his friend were at the Full Throttle Auto Shop- trying to fix his car. Prosecutors said Eric Grant and his friend Derrick Davis circled the shop in their van twice, and then went in pretending to be Colorado Springs utility workers.
They quickly tied up Maldonado Sr. and his friend and demanded to know where the money was. While they were tied up, prosecutors say they were kicked and pistol whipped.
Then, prosecutors say Grant deliberately went over to Maldonado and stomped on his head, killing him.
Multiple people identified both Grant and Davis from the surveillance video. In addition, the men called each other to leave and their cell phones were pinged at the tower in the area during the murder.
Opening statements – Defense
The defense argued the man wasn’t even Eric Grant.
Attorney Jennifer Stock showed pictures of both of Grant’s arms, covered in tattoos. Then she showed the surveillance videos and said the man in the video didn’t have any tattoos where Grant did.
She also stated there won’t be any DNA evidence tying Grant to the scene. As for the cell phone ping, she says Grant lives in the area where the cell phone pinged near the tower.
