Verdict soon for Champaign man charged in 2021 murder | Courts-police-shoot

URBANA — A Champaign man accused of a 2021 murder will wait another night to hear the verdict after waiting nearly three years for a trial.

When closing arguments were scheduled for the second day of the trial after 4:30 p.m. Thursday at the county courthouse, Chief Judge Randy Rosenbaum chose to devote the evening to considering the case of 22-year-old Amahrion Lee.

Lee is charged with the first-degree murder of Adrian Watson Jr. of Danville on Oct. 10, 2021, in Urbana.

The state’s case, presented by Assistant State’s Attorney Troy Lozar, included evidence from security cameras and cellphone location data, which Lozar said positively placed Lee at the scene of the crime.

When he was arrested, Lee told Urbana detectives he was somewhere near home or with his mother all night and morning.

“I didn’t shoot anyone, I don’t have a gun,” Lee said in the video of the first interview presented to the court on Thursday after his arrest. He claimed that he did not have a gun due to his mental health and that he was afraid of committing suicide by owning a firearm.

Lozar argued that couldn’t be true because Lee had at least one gun selfie on his phone.

Chicago attorney Barry Lewis, who represents Lee, has put forward arguments that show that while Lee may have owned any weapon, no weapon was found in this shooting investigation.

Additionally, forensic tests did not reveal any bullet residue on Lee’s hands.

Lewis also questioned the credibility of the witnesses who appeared in court Wednesday and initially accused Lee of murder.

Lozar said they concealed details about the identities and locations of other people in the apartment during the conflict, and said they provided enough information to confirm whether these people matched the possible attacker caught on camera.

Lozar’s closing argument, which lasted about 30 minutes, touched on several points, including the accusers’ lack of justification for slandering Lee and Lee’s possession of multiple items of clothing that matched those of the would-be attacker.

The jacket, an item he did not own, was found thrown into a tree; Lewis pointed out that no DNA testing was done to confirm it was Lee’s.

“The lawyer is right. The lawyer will say that the state was unable to obtain DNA evidence,” Lozar said. “The question is not whether there is better evidence, the question is whether there is evidence.”

He also asked why Lee, if he had no connection to the murder, claimed he was not at the apartment at the time of the attack, even though his phone GPS showed him in that area.

“The defendant knows he did this and is desperately trying to hide it,” Lozar said.

Lewis’ closing argument, only 10 minutes long, focused on the lack of DNA evidence and gunshot residue linking Lee to the crime.

He also said the GPS location was not precise enough to place it at the actual crime scene and not near the defendant.

“Why don’t we see DNA? Because the police don’t care,” Lewis said. “As long as there’s someone to blame and show evidence, they don’t care.”

He also questioned a slide of a pair of Crocs presented to the court that appeared to match the shoes worn by the would-be attacker in security camera footage.

Lewis said they looked like women’s shoes that were too small for Lee and that he would try to run in them.

However, Lozar said, “The defendant’s DNA is actually on those shoes.”

Rosenbaum said that the last part of the hearing, where he will decide, is scheduled for 10.30 today.