Aiden McClendon trial: Day 1 of testimony in murder of Jacksonville toddler

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5:30 P.M. UPDATE: 

Day one in the murder trial of a local toddler old packed in emotional testimony at the Duval County Courthouse Tuesday.

The mother of 22-month-old Aiden McClendon took the stand as a witness for the state.

She was driving the car when her son was shot and killed in January 2016.

“I was screaming, ‘They shot my baby!” Tomeshia Brown said.  “I didn’t know that he was- I just saw like a graze on the top of his head, so I didn’t know that he was, like, actually shot. He was just lying there.”

The state called at least nine witnesses Tuesday.

One of them was McClendon’s great-grandmother, Mary Thomas, who was sitting next to Aiden in the car.

“Was Aiden crying?” the prosecutor asked her.

“No,” she replied.

“Was he conscious?” the prosecutor asked.

“I don’t think so,” she said.  “I thought he was in shock, and I kept patting his face, telling him that everything would be alright.”

Prosecutors said Henry Hayes and Kquame Richardson- who are both now 19-years-old- were trying to target one of Aiden’s family members from a rival gang.

Witnesses reported hearing more than a dozen shots.

Haye’s defense tried to chip away at Tomeshia Brown’s recollection of his client.

“In the early morning hours, you did not describe his hair to detectives, is that correct?” attorney James Hernandez asked.

“Well, I didn’t know it was hair, so I couldn’t have described it,” Brown replied.  “I didn’t know that.”

Hayes and Richardson are being tried together, but two separate juries will determine their fate.

They’re facing charges for murder, attempted murder and gang-related charges.

Note: Tuesday was Day 1 in the murder trial of 22-month-old Aiden McClendon, who was shot while riding in a car in January 2016.

Kquame Richardson, 19, of Jacksonville Beach, is charged with murder in the second degree and two counts of attempted murder in the first degree.

Henry Lee Hayes, 19, an alleged member of the Problem Child Entertainment gang, was charged with Aiden's murder after he allegedly opened fire on a car that had the toddler and two of his family members inside.

Prosecutors say Aiden was caught in the middle of gang crossfire.

Aiden's great-grandmother took the stand and testified that she screamed, "Someone shot my baby! Someone shot my baby!" (Click here to watch her 21-minute testimony)

The state said all she could do was drive and was powerless to save him.

Cox Media Group