Prosecution: Steele intended to kill

DADE CITY -- Assistant State Attorney Bob Lewis started the prosecution's closing argument in the Alfredie Steele Jr. murder trial:

"Let me just clear the air about what the evidence will show in this case. What we are talking about, the issue in this case. Even as angry and upset ... as he was about the death of his friend Michael Reed, he likely didn't intend to kill Bo Harrison that night. He said it. 'I didn't intend to kill that man.' But he intended to kill whatever deputy sheriff who was sitting in that car. He just ended up killing Bo Harrison. That's exactly what happened ...

"He intended to kill whoever it was, whatever deputy sheriff was sitting in the car, and that was his intent ... if he intended to kill one person but actually killed another, that's premeditation. Your intent is transferred to the person he intended to kill. It doesn't make any sense, does it? That you can excuse killing someone. 'I didn't mean to kill that man.' Bo Harrison is still dead, dead at the hands of that man."

Lewis then pointed to Steele, who sat passively at the defense table.

"What's the best evidence of his intent? What should you consider? Well frankly there's a lot of evidence. He said he took his SKS (rifle) to the cook shed to shoot it at 10 at night. How do we know that? He. Said. It ...

"Now we had a lot of witnesses come in and testify ... some said he was drunk. Some said he was calm. But you didn't hear one single witness who said he was a liar. He said he took his SKS. He said he took it to the cook shed. He said it was 10 at night. He said he shot it. Why can't you believe that?

"... Same gun fired both bullets. One bullet lodged in the cook shed. One was taken from Bo Harrison's spine. Why can't you believe he took the gun to the cook shed and shot it?"

"Is there any other reasonable explanation for shooting a gun in the darkness of the forest at 10 at night other than preparation? Then continuing to Rumors where he drank ... We know from his statement at Rumors that he saw a marked police car ... "

"His own statement, he told you be drove down Bald Eagle Drive, around the corner, parked the car and walked back. Walked back. What he didn't say in that statement, which is implicit in his statement, that he carried his SKS with him ... What did he intend to do?"

"He shot, and shot, and shot, and shot, and shot ... until he fired 13 rounds, four of which hit the car, two of which hit Bo Harrison, killing him. And he said 'I didn't mean to kill that man.' That's true. The evidence seems to show that. He didn't know he was killing Bo Harrison. The evidence shows he intended to kill whoever that deputy sheriff was sitting in that car. He just didn't know it was Bo Harrison ..."

"He filled the car with lead. Why? To shoot the FM dial off? Didn't mean to hurt nobody? 13 shots from a rifle? At a car? He didn't mean to hurt nobody? Use your common sense. If he didn't mean to hurt nobody, why is he shooting at them?"

"He only became upset when he learned who he had killed."

"Some think there's no evidence of premeditation. How about the first time he fired the gun? Was the gun aimed at the ... the woods or the sun? Maybe some think he didn't have time to reflect or not. How about the second time he aimed the gun at the car and pulled the trigger? How about the third time he pulled the trigger? ..."

"You know exactly what happened. That man set out to take revenge for the deaths of at least one of his friends on those he blamed, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, the police. And he did, he just didn't intend to kill that man."

"Everything ... tells you to take that cop-killer right there and let him stand in front of the judge, if you render a verdict of guilty."

Read today's story: Defense offers two theories.

-- JAMAL THALJI