Eyewitness to Thrasher's murder takes stand
Long gone is Whitney O'Brien's cotton-candy pink hair from the day of Domanic Thrasher's murder and her former life as a small-time weed dealer and adult-entertainment dancer.
Seven years after the former Rider High School football star was killed, O'Brien took the stand this week to again testify against murder defendant Justin Michael Love.
O'Brien, 26, dredged up sometimes faded memories of the twilight drug world she operated in as a 19-year-old who indulged in pot and acid.
More: Wichita County prosecutor: Love was 'criminal mastermind' in drug ring, ordered Thrasher shot
That world took 21-year-old Thrasher's life in broad daylight June 2, 2015, on a Wichita Falls street corner. He was murdered over two ounces of marijuana.
A key eyewitness for the prosecution, O'Brien's testimony helped put Love in prison once. His December 2018 conviction overturned on appeal, she was back to tell her story to a jury again Wednesday and Thursday.
O'Brien testified she saw Thrasher shot to death a few feet away.
"I heard, 'Shoot him, Blayne.' I heard gunfire. I was watching Domanic run away," she told the jury.
Blayne William Brooks is serving a 60-year murder sentence for shooting Thrasher at the intersection of Yuma Trail and Gunnison Street. Brooks is the undisputed triggerman.
O'Brien took a plea bargain with 15 years for manslaughter on Jan. 18, 2019, for Thrasher's killing.
She testified at Brooks' trial in 2016 and Love's first murder trial in 2018 that she had no plea deal then. O'Brien was paroled Sept. 3, 2020.
Love, 33, is charged with engaging in organized criminal activity-murder for his alleged role in Thrasher's death.
Prosecutors believe Love was the criminal mastermind of a drug ring bringing marijuana from Colorado to Texas and gave the order for Brooks to shoot.
Defense attorney Mark Barber told the jury in his opening statement June 8 that Brooks independently decided to shoot Thrasher. He warned the jury of nine women and three men not to buy O'Brien's story.
More: Judge denies Justin Love's request for change of venue
She was on a street corner in City View just after noon that day because she agreed to help Haden Swagerty.
Back then, he was her boyfriend, her partner in usually petty drug deals and an adult-entertainment dancer in his own right, according to testimony.
Swagerty had to work a lunch shift at a restaurant and wanted her to connect someone — known to him only as "E" — with Love and Brooks for a bigger marijuana buy. They needed rent money and would get a cut of the sale.
Swagerty told the jury Wednesday he bought ecstasy or MDMA from Thrasher a few times before the shooting but didn't know his true identity.
He also testified he believes marijuana should be legalized, and he describes himself as a sociopath "by effect of environment."
More: Murder trial date set as Justin Love fights for change of venue
Before Swagerty went to work that day, he handed over his cell phone to O'Brien so she could communicate with "E."
Love and Brooks got a case of nerves over the situation, according to O'Brien's testimony. Thrasher texted a video showing he had money to Swagerty's phone, instantly arousing Love's suspicions.
Wariness grew when Thrasher didn't try to haggle over the cost of the marijuana, which he wanted "loud" — meaning potent, O'Brien testified.
In response to their suspicions, she sent Thrasher a profanity-laced text: "Hey, I don't know you. You're my BF's connect. But don't (expletive) with me. My plug don't (expletive) play."
A "plug" is a drug supplier.
In spite of their suspicions, O'Brien, Brooks and Love piled into Love's black Chevy Suburban and headed toward Thrasher, she testified. In another deviation from standard drug-dealing practice, they allowed Thrasher to set the buy's location.
The three spotted "E" walking down the street, O'Brien testified. She and Brooks recognized Thrasher from their days at Rider.
She told the jury Brooks said, "He's a jack boy," referring to someone reputed to steal drugs.
O'Brien got out of the Suburban so Thrasher could slide in, and Love, at the wheel, showed him the weed, O'Brien said.
More: Murder trial date set as Justin Love fights for change of venue
"Domanic grabbed the bag and fled the vehicle. He pushed me out of the way, and I turned and grabbed him by the back of his shirt," O'Brien told the jury.
He maneuvered out of his shirt, and she heard Love order Brooks to shoot, O'Brien testified. She believed she was in the line of fire.
"I immediately rag-dolled to the ground. I think that my instinct took over, and I fell to the ground," O'Brien said.
She heard several shots and saw Thrasher fall, she said. Love told her to grab the marijuana, which had fallen to the ground. She got back in the Suburban, and Love drove away.
O'Brien testified she begged to get out of the SUV, but Love told her, "The cops will pick you up, and we'd have to shoot you, too."
When Barber questioned O'Brien, he painted her as an untruthful person who lived a seedy lifestyle "dancing for men" and taking drugs.
She corrected him, saying she danced for "patrons . . . whoever's there. . . . When I was dancing, I liked to meet people and have fun."
Barber contended she was on acid the day Thrasher was killed, reading from a letter she wrote the murder victim's mother: "I didn't have a sober day in 2014 or the part of 2015 I was out."
Psychedelics were her drug of choice, O'Brien wrote.
"The truth is that I'm sorry. I didn't know the dangers of illegal drugs until June 2, 2015," O'Brien said in the letter.
During questioning from Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Kyle Lessor, O'Brien said she did not take acid the day of the murder.
Barber also highlighted her feelings toward Love.
O'Brien testified she "never liked him," and she hoped but didn't know her cooperation with police and prosecutors would help her.
"Hope and know are two different things," she told the jury. "I'm sure Mr. Love hopes for a lot of things."
Love has remained in the Wichita County Jail since Senior District Judge Bob Brotherton ordered him held without bail in January 2021 after finding he violated bond conditions.
Love faces up to life in prison if convicted.
More: Judge orders murder defendant Justin Love taken immediately into custody, no bail
Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Whitney O'Brien testifies against Justin Love in murder trial
