HAVERHILL, N.H. — Prosecutors presented their evidence Tuesday against 21-year-old Jayden McClanahan, of Hartford, Conn., who is charged in connection with an April apartment shooting that left one dead and one injured.
A Grafton County Superior Court judge will determine whether McClanahan must be held without bail or is eligible for release. State law states that a defendant should remain incarcerated when the evidence suggests the individual committed a crime punishable by up to life in prison.
The prosecution pointed to video footage that showed a man, who police say is McClanahan, arriving at the Nelson Street apartment with a firearm, climbing up the fire escape and leaving shortly after the shooting.
The defense argued that no witness identified McClanahan as the shooter or claimed that he fired a weapon.
Last month, McClanahan was indicted on charges of first-degree murder/robbery and reckless second-degree murder, following July indictments for felonious use of a firearm, conspiracy to commit burglary and burglary.
A grand jury also indicted Carlington Green Jr., of Bloomfield, Conn., on charges of first-degree murder/robbery; reckless second-degree murder; burglary using a firearm; burglary; felon in possession of a dangerous weapon; and felonious use of a firearm.
If convicted, McClanahan faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole on the first-degree murder charge, and up to life in prison on the second-degree murder charge, with the possibility of parole.
On the witness stand, Sgt. Mallory Littman, a detective with the New Hampshire State Police Major Crime Unit, said 911 calls came in on April 20 about shots fired at 14 Nelson Street. She added that a caller who identified himself as “Jake” said he’d been shot twice.
When police arrived, Xavion Martin, 25, was lying on the floor near a stairwell, Littman said. Inside the second-floor apartment, police found Demetrius White, 22, of Springfield, Mass., dead on a deflated air mattress with a gunshot wound that entered his back and went through his chest.
“We believe that there were two guns that were fired,” Littman said, pointing to the casings found at the scene.
Investigators built a timeline from two Ring cameras on the building’s exterior, surveillance video from the nearby Iron Rail Pub & Grill and hospital records, Littman said.
Ring doorbell footage played in court showed two people arriving at the back of the building just before 1 a.m. on April 20 with their faces covered, holding what appeared to be firearms.
Littman said police believe McClanahan and Green had been at the apartment on April 19 and were known to visit for narcotics activity.
Shortly after the shooting, Littman explained, the two left the way they had come in and got into a red Hyundai Elantra, which drove away.
Around 2 a.m., a red Hyundai Elantra that matched the license plate and appearance of the car at the scene dropped McClanahan off at Littleton Regional Healthcare, where he was treated for gunshot wounds, Littman said.
Littman said images of the sweatshirt McClanahan wore to the hospital were consistent with the sweatshirt worn by one of the people who entered the apartment. A tattoo on his hand also appeared similar to a tattoo in the video footage, she said.
Police interviewed a man who was with McClanahan and Green on April 19, Littman said. He told police the two said they planned to scare or rob people who were selling drugs at the apartment.
Based on that interview, police say McClanahan and Green went back to Connecticut to get a gun and a mask for McClanahan. The man used nicknames police believe belong to the two: “Benji” for McClanahan and “Jamaica” for Green.
Littman said multiple others were in the apartment, but no one identified McClanahan by name.
Police found McClanahan’s DNA, particularly his blood, on the outside of the building, on the bedroom door and inside the bedroom where the shooting happened, Littman said.
Police have not recovered any guns, just fired cartridge casings at the scene.
“I wouldn’t testify who fired,” Littman said.
Assistant Attorney General Bethany Durand said the evidence meets that standard for proof and for a great presumption that McClanahan is guilty.
Defense attorney Hanna Kinne argued that while the prosecution may have proven McClanahan was at the apartment, that his blood was at the scene and that he was holding a gun, there’s “no evidence he used it to cause a death.”
“It could be just as possible that Jayden went in there and startled the occupants who shot at him,” Kinne said.
Durand said the state only has to show that McClanahan, “acting in concert with and aided by Carlington Green Jr., did knowingly cause the death of Demetrius White during the commission of a burglary while armed with a firearm,” or that he caused White’s death recklessly, under circumstances showing extreme indifference to human life.
McClanahan is charged both as a principal and as an accomplice in each of those crimes, Durand said.
“There’s no gun that is linked to Jayden,” Kinne said. “There’s no bullet that’s linked to Jayden. There’s no witness identifying Jayden as the shooter, or for that matter, Carlington Green.”
Judge Jonathan Frizzell said he’d take the matter under advisement and issue a written ruling. No order has been filed in the case as of Wednesday, according to court records.
