At Hopewell murder trial, suspect's girlfriend testifies he admitted cousin pulled the trigger

HOPEWELL — Amidst the long pauses, reluctance to answer, requests to speak up and numerous objections over allegations of leading questions, one of the star witnesses in a double-homicide trial testified that the defendant admitted to her that he was at the scene and was actually wounded himself in the gunfire.

Tiffany Walker's testimony was part acrimonious, part silence for almost an hour as she was quizzed by co-prosecutor Robert Fierro about the events leading up to the Aug. 20, 2020 killings of Julian Sharpe and Elisa Scott. Finally, she said what the prosecution was hoping to hear, that defendant Maurice Eric Mulrain eventually told her that he and his cousin had gone to Sharpe’s house on Central Avenue, and that his cousin shot Sharpe multiple times as he was walking back ianto the house. Scott, who came to the front door when the commotion started, was shot numerous times and collapsed in the doorway.

Mulrain, 32, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and four related weapons counts in the case. His cousin and co-defendant, Shaquan Mulrain, faces the same charges, but he currently is incarcerated in Kentucky and will be tried here at a later date.

Walker, who was subpoenaed to testify and given immunity as long as she did not lie or refuse to answer questions, eventually said that on the day before the murders, she and Mulrain, who she calls “Moe” and shares two children with, drove to Kentucky in a rental car to pick up Shaquan because “he just did not feel safe” around Hopewell. Previously, his house had been shot at, and he claimed to be concerned for his own security.

“He said Shaquan was the only one who would have his back,” Walker testified.

While in Kentucky, Walker said she and Mulrain had an argument over text messages she was sharing with another woman who has borne his children. When they returned to the rental car site at Richmond International Airport, she said she got into Mulrain’s Lincoln Town car he had parked there and drove away while Mulrain and his cousin drove in the rental car.

Eventually all three wound up at the woman’s house in Petersburg where the argument continued. Walker testified she drove away in the rental car “because the keys were still in it” and left the Lincoln Town car for the cousins. It was the same car witnesses testified was at the murder scene that afternoon.

Walker said she did not hear from Mulrain for several days afterward, but she saw in the news that the Lincoln had been spotted at the scene. She said Mulrain eventually called her and told her that he was upset because in his words, “Red [Sharpe’s nickname] had been riding a train” with Mulrain’s other baby’s mother. At that time, Mulrain was in Connecticut and was encouraging Walker and the kids to join him because he feared for their safety.

When she asked what happened when Maurice and Shaquan Mulrain went to Sharpe’s house to confront him, Walker said Mulrain told her his cousin started shooting at Sharpe as Sharpe walked back toward the house.

When Scott appeared at the doorway, Walker testified, Shaquan Mulrain shot her, too.

Sharpe and Scott each were shot multiple times, him in the chest, abdomen, arm and leg, and her in the head, torso, arm and leg. Sharpe, who was found lying on his back across the front stoop, died at the scene. Scott, who was found in a seated position propped against the front door, was airlifted to VSU Medical Center in Richmond where she died about an hour later.

A doctor who performed the autopsies on both of them said they also had suffered fractured bones caused by the bullets.

Maurice Mulrain was standing in front of his cousin when the shots began firing. He suffered a slight fragment wound on his arm.

While Walker’s testimony was the most compelling of the trial’s afternoon session, a neighbor testified during the morning session that she saw the scene unfold out through her front window.

Cassandra Vanderkief, who lives across the street from where the pair were shot, testified she saw the Mulrain cousins and Sharpe standing in the front yard. One of the cousins was holding a .9mm handgun at his side in a spot where Sharpe could not have seen it, Vanderkief said, standing up to demonstrate for the jury how she saw the weapon being handled.

“When they finished speaking, Mr. Sharpe turned around and walked toward the house,” the witness said. “When he reached the top step, the gentleman with the gun began shooting in rapid succession.”

Her next statement sent chills through some of the spectators in the gallery, including the victims’ families.

“His body jumped up and down in the air,” Vanderkief testified, describing Sharpe being shot. “Then he landed on the top step. A woman appeared at the door and when she saw the body, she started screaming. The person with the gun then shot her.”

Under cross-examination from defense attorney Mary K. Martin, Vanderkief sat in the witness stand and said her vantage point inside the house was “from here to about where the jury is” -- a distance later estimated to be about 40 feet. Martin tried to unravel that testimony by asking Vanderkief if she remembered telling investigators she saw three men, including one in the car, Vanderkief said she did not say that.

The Lincoln Town Car was found several weeks after the shooting in Dinwiddie County, Hopewell Police Sgt. Kate Williamson testified. Its tires had been removed and was propped up on cinderblocks.

Williamson, the lead investigator said they were able to identify that was the suspect car when they saw it was missing a piece in the same spot as the car whose image had been caught on a neighbor’s surveillance camera.

There also were blood stains on the seat, and the center console had been removed and placed in the floor because it also had blood stains. Williamson also testified that cleaning supplies were found in the trunk.

A jury pool of 50 Hopewell residents was whittled down to 13 – 12 jurors and one alternate – through a drawing of names, and a series of strikes by both the prosecution and defense.

Martin, the defense attorney, took early exception with two of the prosecution’s strikes, citing them as having possible racial overtones.

“The only two young African Americans in the pool, just like my client,” she said. “That is not a jury of his peers.”

Co-prosecutor Jordan Grubbs said he struck those two because they both had prior convictions.

The trial was briefly recessed while Circuit Court Judge Carson Saunders reviewed the defense’s objection. Saunders later ruled the strikes valid, citing the prosecution’s reasoning was race-neutral.

In the end, the jury wound up with five men and eight women, including the alternate juror. Three of the women are Black.

The first day of the two-day trial ended with the prosecution resting its case. The defense did not indicate any witnesses of its own, which means the trial could resume at 9 a.m. Friday with closing arguments and the jury getting the case.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Neighbor, suspect's girlfriend testify in Hopewell double-murder trial