Live updates: Man who brought gun to Travis Rudolph's home testifies on Day 3 of murder trial

WEST PALM BEACH — Day three of the murder trial of former Florida State University football player Travis Rudolph began Friday.

Attorneys for both sides presented opening statements Wednesday, one casting Rudolph as the aggressor and the other insisting he was a victim. Rudolph, who played briefly in the NFL, is charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with a fatal shooting outside of his Lake Park home two years ago.

Four men appeared on Rudolph's doorstep shortly after midnight onApril 7, 2021, to confront him about a dispute he had with his girlfriend hours earlier. The dispute turned violent, Rudolph said, and he armed himself with an AR-15.

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Prosecutors told jurors Wednesday that the men were trying to flee in a black Cadillac by the time Rudolph fired 39 rounds in their direction, killing Sebastien Jean-Jacques in the passenger seat.

Rudolph asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen to dismiss the case last year on the basis of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which permits the use of deadly force to protect against either death or great bodily harm. Gillen denied his request, leaving jurors to decide whether Rudolph ended Jean-Jacques' life to save his own.

Follow along for live updates from inside the courtroom, where the proceedings resumed at 8 a.m. Friday.

Tyler Robinson, one of four men who confronted Rudolph, explains why he brought a gun

Tyler Robinson, the one man prosecutors said had a gun in his pocket when he and three others arrived at Rudolph's home, said Dominique Jones, the football player's then-girlfriend, was like a sister to him.

He testified Friday that he was upset to hear that Rudolph "put his hands" on Jones — especially because she was recovering from recent cosmetic surgery.

Jones texted Robinson and her brother, Keishaun Jones, to go "shoot his s*** up." Robinson told the jury he didn't take it seriously.

"When she's angry, she tends to blow things out of proportion," Robinson said. " ... She acts that way when she gets mad at me or Keishaun. She wears her emotions on her sleeve."

Her brother responded in similar fashion, Robinson said, texting Jones that Rudolph was a "dead man walking."

Robinson said he rallied two friends, Chris Lowe and Sebastian Jean-Jacques, to join him and Keishaun Jones in confronting Rudolph. He told jurors he brought a gun with him because he was scared, but also excited. He had recently turned 21 and filed an application for a concealed-carried permit.

"I'm bringing it to a lot of places in this time," he said. "I just thought that's what men do."

The outrage that sparked the four men seemed to have died out in the few hours it took to actually get in the car and head toward Rudolph’s house. It felt like a chore at that point, Robinson said. He didn’t want to be there anymore, he said, but felt that he had to for Jones’ sake.

“She can’t stand up for herself, or shouldn’t have to, because she’s a woman,” he said.

Robinson described the melee that broke out after Rudolph came to the door and the periodic pauses that interrupted it. Robinson said Rudolph's mother stood in the driveway and yelled at the men, urging them to watch the Ring doorbell video on her phone that recorded Jones hitting Rudolph earlier that day — not the other way around.

There was no time to watch it, Robinson said.

During one momentary lull in the fight, Robinson said he saw the former NFL player ran back into his home and return with a rifle in hand. Robinson said he shouted in surrender and fled with his friends back to the car.

He piled into the back seat after Lowe as the first gunshots rang out.

Neighbor describes fight that preceded fatal shooting

Ruben Estes, who lived near Rudolph's Lake Park home, told jurors he heard Rudolph arguing outside with his then-girlfriend, Dominique Jones, hours before the men arrived to confront him.

Estes said he saw Rudolph stand with his arms crossed while Jones slapped him, angered by texts from another woman she found on his phone moments earlier. Estes said he didn't involve himself in their fight — “Not today," he recalled thinking. "I don’t need this crap today.” — but said he told Rudolph's brother, DJ, to give Rudolph a message.

"There's no woman worth that," he said.

Just after midnight, the sound of another "ruckus" drew him outside. It was Jones' brother and his three friends fist-fighting with Rudolph and his brother on the lawn. Estes told Assistant State Attorney Adrienne Ellis that he didn't see any of the men brandishing a weapon.

Estes said he went back inside his home to retrieve his own firearm, and the sudden sound of gunfire outside kept him from walking back out. He peered out the front door and saw the muzzle flashes, then watched Rudolph walk back to his home, a rifle in hand.

Rudolph’s defense attorney Marc Shiner honed in on Estes’ decision to retrieve his gun. He asked the neighbor if it was because he feared for his life, just as Rudolph has argued he was in fear for his own.

Did the fight look as though someone was trying to kill someone else? Shiner asked.

“Somebody’s trying to whoop somebody’s ass,” Estes responded.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Travis Rudolph trial update: Live coverage of FSU player's murder trial