Testimony underway in I-74 attempted murder trial
Jul. 12—URBANA — A Champaign man told a jury on Wednesday he had no recollection of implicating his cousin in a shooting last year that left two people seriously injured.
Testifying as a hostile witness in the trial of Divontae Bailey, 21, a shackled Aaron Young spent about 20 minutes on the witness stand saying he either did not recall saying or he did not say what a police investigator wrote in a report.
"I didn't tell the truth at all," said Young, 23, adding he lied about Bailey's presence in hopes of getting a break in his own case.
Bailey is charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm for shooting David Rodgers with the intent to kill.
Young pleaded guilty earlier this year to attempted murder for his role on March 26, 2022, as the driver of a car that pulled up alongside Rodgers' car on Interstate 74 and opened fire.
Even though he was not believed to be a shooter, Young was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Bailey, of Urbana, and Elijah Smith, 21, of Champaign, are alleged to have fired multiple shots into the car driven by Rodgers, 32, who was heading east on I-74 between Prospect Avenue and Neil Street.
With him at about 2 a.m. that day was the mother of some of his children, Karissa Griffin, 28.
A crime scene technician said at least 15 bullets entered their car.
Another crime scene technician recovered 13 shell casings on the highway.
Rodgers testified he was hit in the chest, arm, legs and in both hands.
The wounds to his hands left fingers on both hands permanently deformed.
Griffin sustained a broken nose, broken ribs, and a broken back when Rodgers lost control of the car and hit a concrete median.
Neither Rodgers nor Griffin could identify who was shooting at their vehicle.
Both said they were in court under subpoena, not because they wanted to be.
In opening statements to the six men and six women hearing the evidence, Assistant State's Attorney Joel Fletcher said forensic evidence would tie Bailey to the car from which the shots were fired.
He also said Young would testify that Bailey was in the passenger seat firing.
However, Public Defender Lis Pollock said Bailey, who was arrested a night after the I-74 shooting, did not know Rodgers or Griffin and was not present when they were shot.
Rodgers told the jury that he and his child's mother had left a party in memory of Dayveonta "Herbs" Fairman, 26, his cousin who was murdered by gunfire in December 2021.
On the way home, they stopped at the Mach 1 station on Bloomington Road at Prospect so he could get cash from an ATM.
While inside, several young men came in yelling at him and threatening to harm him, apparently because he was related to Mr. Fairman, their enemy.
Rodgers said he recognized Young and one other of the men who were taunting him.
"I took it they was joking and I didn't pay them no mind," Rodgers said, admitting he left hurriedly to avoid any conflict, only to be shot minutes later on the highway.
Asked why the main taunter was angry with him, Rodgers replied, "Ain't no reason."
Young testified that the man taunting Rodgers was his brother and that he didn't remember the names of the people or how many were in the car he was driving.
Asked if he shot anyone, Young replied, "I'm not answering that."
Judge Roger Webber then informed Young that he no longer had a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination since he had pleaded guilty, and at the request of Fletcher, was declared a hostile witness.
The trial is expected to wrap up Thursday or Friday.
Smith is also charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm and is awaiting an August trial.
