Death Of Promising Sports Reporter Described During Testimony
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4)- The death of promising sports journalist Jessica Ghawi was described in testimony Wednesday morning at the Aurora theater shooting trial.
Ghawi, 24, was one of the 12 shooting victims who died in the July 2012 shooting.
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Ghawi's friend, Benton Lowak, was visiting her from Texas and was with her that night. He works as a firefighter and EMT and described how he tried to help her after he realized she had been shot.
"Her tone changed entirely, transitioned from 'Call 911' to screaming and I looked down to see that she'd been shot in her right leg, I believe it was right above the knee," said Lowak.
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Lowak said he tried to control her bleeding but then another bullet struck her in the head. He knew as a trained paramedic that she had died.
"It was at that point I crawled closer to her and I prayed over her," said Lowak.
Ghawi's parents have been attending every day of the trial, sitting in the courtroom and listening to the testimony.
"Most of us would love to have it over and move on. That's not going to happen, unfortunately," said Ghawi's mother Sandy Phillips.
Psychologists are being made available for the jurors in this trial, but if it's tough for them it is certainly tougher for those who knew and loved the victims.
Each tragedy has a unique twist. Kevin Campbell went to the movie with a friend for who it would be her final day. That friend was Micayla Medek, a college student in Aurora. Campbell described her saying she was hit a bullet.
"That was the last thing I heard from her and after that I kind of blacked out a little bit. I remember screaming her name," Campbell said.
Photos from inside Theater No. 9 revealed 235 bullet holes. Their trajectories were determined through FBI lasers and rods. Usually the defendant stares straight ahead, but the bullet trajectories seemed to capture the attention of James Holmes.
Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 more in the shooting.
