Jury hears from eyewitnesses of deadly October 2019 shooting

Two witnesses this week described to a Barnstable Superior Court jury the moments leading up to Oct. 16, 2019 slaying of Darrell Russ at AQ Auto on Yarmouth Road.

Authorities allege that William Hayes, 42, of Falmouth, shot Russ three times in the car repair shop following an argument.

Jarran Watkins, owner of the adjacent Big Boy Rental, a car detailer and auto rental shop, was eating breakfast around 11 a.m. when Russ and another man, later identified as Aquil Pryor, arrived at Big Boy which shares the building at 362 Yarmouth Road with AQ Auto.

He remembered the demeanor of the men as calm but excited, as they were discussing a concert they and other friends were all planning on attending that Saturday at Foxwoods.

More Hayes trial testimony: Quote for work on vehicle ignited fight, led to Darrell Russ' death

Russ and Hayes were both friends with Watkins for many years, Watkins told the jury.

Watkins also said Russ had brought a bottle of Patron with him and had one to two shots of liquor while in the Big Boy office.

Russ and Pryor left after about 30 or 40 minutes and planned on talking to Hayes, Watkins said.

Watkins remembered hearing a “confrontation” from Hayes’ shop next door.

According to testimony earlier in the trial, Russ had asked Robert Rooney, service adviser, at Hayes' auto shop, for a quote for work on his car. Unhappy over the price, Russ punched Rooney in the face.

“There was a lot of yelling, but it was muffed and I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from but Hayes’ office,” Watkins said.

From the windows of Big Boy Rentals, Watkins said he saw Russ and Hayes arguing in the front parking lot. had moved outside. Watkins also noticed Rooney getting into his car in the parking lot.

Watkins left Big Boy Rentals, and along with building manager Sherman Anderson tried to break up the argument. Watkins said Hayes told Russ he "didn't want any trouble" and would call the police if Russ didn't leave.

“Darrell was upset, and Will looked nervous,” Watkins said. “We were just saying, you know, this is a business, Will was saying he didn’t want any trouble.”

Russ and Pryor then went around to the side parking lot where Watkins lost sight of them.

About 20-30 minutes later, Watkins heard another commotion from the direction of Hayes’ office, saying it sounded like chairs were being thrown.

‘There was banging and tousling and yelling, and then I saw Darrell come running out of Will’s office towards the road,” he said.

He said he saw Russ run into Yarmouth Road before collapsing on the ground.

Anderson gave jurors a similar account of the events.

Fifteen minutes after the initial confrontation, he said he saw Russ reenter through the side of the building. Russ said he wanted to talk to Hayes.

The next thing Anderson recalled was Russ running out the front entrance.

“There were cars in the road, everyone's outside, I went outside towards Darrell and saw that he was bleeding,” Anderson said. “There were a bunch of people over him, I went inside to the common area then out front to talk to the police.”

Anderson then went to the building's common area where Pryor gave him a box that a state police officer testified contained several plastic bags containing a white powder.

Anderson, who said he didn't look into the box, stowed it away in the ceiling of his second-floor office. Anderson's testimony was given under immunity from potential criminal charges in connection with the box's contents.

Peter Bengtson, a Massachusetts State Police trooper and crime scene supervisor who assisted in photographing and placing identification placards on potential evidence at the crime scene, said he retrieved and photographed the box.

Two other witnesses, Elena Easton and Stacy Lachapelle of New Bedford, driving through the area saw Russ collapse in the middle of Yarmouth Road.

The two came down to the Cape to visit a friend who lived in Hyannis, they told the jury on Thursday, and were heading back to the highway when Easton said she heard a loud bang from the building at 362 Yarmouth Road.

Lachapelle also testified to hearing this bang, but said she also saw the glass door to 362 Yarmouth Road shatter as Russ ran out of the building.

“He was trying to run out of the building,” she said. “He was staggering, running away and trying to get out to the street.”

She said she also saw a “dark, tall slimmish guy wearing all black” exit the building after Russ, “swinging something in his right hand.”

‘There was something black in his hands but I couldn’t make out what the object was,” Lachapelle said.

Both women got out of the car. Lachapelle began to put pressure on a wound she said she saw on Russ' neck. Easton took a video of the scene, which the jury viewed.

“A lot of chaos was going on, there were a lot of men around him but I didn’t recognize any of the guys,” Easton said.

“There was so much blood it was just squirting out of him,” Lachapelle said. “A nurse came over and asked if I needed help.”

That nurse, Jessica Turr, a certified nursing assistant at the time of the shooting, testified on Wednesday.

Vicki Yefko, a firefighter paramedic who responded to the shooting, described Russ’ injuries: puncture wounds on his neck and the left side of his torso and back as well as an abrasion on his left thigh above the knee.

“We rode to the hospital and continued aid, we gave him a chest seal and trauma dressing and an IV for fluids,” she said. “He became pulseless on the ride and we started CPR, but he did not regain his pulse in the ambulance."

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Jury hears from eyewitnesses in 2019 Darrell Russ murder