Bullet that killed Khalil Singleton on Hilton Head Island not from rivals' gun, expert says

The .38-caliber bullet that killed 8-year-old Khalil Singleton on Hilton Head Island may not have come from the same revolver Tyrone Robinson used in a shoot-out earlier in the day, a firearms expert told a jury Wednesday.

But it did not come from his rivals' gun.

"It is not possible" the bullet was fired by a MasterPiece Arms semiautomatic pistol, Dan DeFreese of the S.C. Law Enforcement Division said on the second day of testimony in Robinson's murder trial. That was the firearm Aaron Young Jr. and Aaron Young Sr. used to shoot up Robinson's car Sept. 1, 2012, and the only weapon investigators recovered in the case.

DeFreese examined the Youngs' pistol, several 9-mm bullets fired at Robinson on Allen Road on Hilton Head, and the .38-caliber bullet that killed Khalil moments later during the gunbattle. The markings on that badly damaged bullet match another .38-caliber bullet investigators recovered from the wall of a house next to the Youngs' home on Old Wild Horse Road, DeFreese said.

Robinson fought with the Youngs and fired his gun there earlier in the day, witnesses have testified. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office never found his weapon.

Robinson, 39, is charged with murder, second-degree burglary and pointing a firearm at another person. The Youngs are charged with murder in the shoot-out and are scheduled to go on trial next month.

"It would be somewhat easier if we had the correct gun" to match the bullets, DeFreese said.

Following his testimony at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone rested his case. Defense attorney Arie Bax then asked the judge to end the trial in Robinson's favor.

He argued Stone had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Robinson fired the shot that killed Khalil, or that he fired any shots after peeling away from the Youngs' home earlier on Sept. 1.

Judge Thomas Cooper Jr. denied the motion.

"I find there is sufficient evidence that if the jury chose to believe it, they could convict Mr. Robinson of murder," he said.

Cooper noted one witness, Khalil's friend Jontu Singleton Jr., told a deputy he saw the shooting, according to a video played in court Tuesday. The child was not called as a witness.

Investigators also collected gunshot residue from Robinson's hands, testified retired SLED trace-evidence expert Ila Simmons.

The first witness Bax called Wednesday, a dispatcher who received a 911 call from Robinson, also told the court she heard the man say he had gunpowder on his hands.

In all, Stone called seven Sheriff's Office investigators, a Solicitor's Office employee and three expert witnesses Wednesday, including a forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Khalil Singleton.

Dr. Lee Marie Tormos presented X-rays of the child to the jury to show how the bullet traveled sideways through his left chest, striking both lungs and his heart, before coming to rest in his right arm.

The bullet did not stop Khalil's heart; he died after "essentially drowning in his own blood," Tormos said as a member of the boy's family let out a groan.

Khalil's mother, Katrina, left the courtroom moments later, when the prosecution carried in a mannequin. She did not return until after the figure was gone.

Bax questioned whether Khalil's small size, physical activity or adrenaline could have hastened his death. Tormos, however, maintained he would have survived a minute or two.

The night of the shooting, Young Sr. led investigators to the home of his father, Benny Young, a short walk from his own home, Capt. Bob Bromage testified. In a shed there, deputies found a black bag containing the semiautomatic pistol Young Jr. admitted to firing at Robinson, Bromage said.

"We wouldn't have had any idea it was there," he said.

Bax subpoenaed the Youngs, but they will not take the stand in Robinson's trial, Cooper ruled Wednesday. Their attorneys, Roberts Vaux and Robert Ferguson, said the Youngs would invoke their 5th Amendment rights and refuse to testify.

The jury may hear statements Young Sr. made in court in April before the first trial for the three men was postponed, Cooper said. However, it remains to be seen whether interrogations of the Youngs can be submitted as evidence.

Those statements "are crucial to my client's right to assert self-defense," Bax argued. "They're crucial to his right to a fair trial."

Vaux, representing Young Jr., said that would turn the trial into a "circus." He and Ferguson plan to argue at their clients' trial next month that the men were coerced by law enforcement to show investigators where they hid their gun.

Bax countered that Robinson should not be put at a disadvantage merely because he is being tried first.

"Frankly, I've never been confronted with this before," Cooper said, adding he will announce a decision Thursday. "I trust I won't be the only person in this room who'll be researching that issue."

Follow reporter Rebecca Lurye on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Rebecca.

Related content:

• Jury seated in first day of Robinson murder trial, Sept. 15, 2014
• Interrogation, 911 calls played on 2nd day of Robinson's murder trial, Sept. 16, 2014

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Bullet that killed Khalil Singleton on Hilton Head Island not from rivals' gun, expert says."