The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

pbailey@tribunemedia.net

A FIREARM expert said none of the bullet casings recovered from the scene where Azario Major was killed matched the gun found in his car.

Sergeant Terriah Thomas’ testimony came as the Coroners’ Court inquest into the police-involved killing of Major, 31, continued.

Major was killed on December 26, 2021, outside Woody’s Bar on Fire Trail Road. Acting Coroner Kara Turnquest-Deveaux is presiding over the inquest into his death.

Sgt Thomas, a certified firearms examiner, said one of the five firearms submitted for her analysis was allegedly found in Major’s car. The black Taurus 9mm pistol had an erased serial number and was found with a fully loaded twelve-round magazine.

Sgt Thomas said the remaining four guns are all police-issued weapons capable of firing and inflicting harm.

After the firearms and associated magazines were shown to the court and officially submitted as evidence, Sgt Thomas discussed the results of a gunshot residue (GSR) test. The test involves swabbing a person’s hands to determine if that person or someone near them discharged a firearm.

 Sgt Thomas said the GSR test was sent to the Hamilton Country Crime Laboratory in Cincinnati, Ohio, for analysis and it was determined that the deceased or someone within his vicinity discharged a firearm.

 She said a person who fired the gun had to be in “extremely close” proximity to the deceased for gunshot residue to be found on his hands.

 She said none of the recovered bullet casings or fragments – some of which still had visible blood on them – matched the gun found in the victim’s car.

 Police Constable Nikita Pickstock, a forensics officer, showed surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store on Fire Trail Road where Major was killed.

 A tense silence fell over the court as the footage played, with people straining to see what happened.

 Near the end of the footage, a crowd could be seen gathering near a car in a parking lot. However, darkness obscured what happened. The footage ended with a group disbursing as a car’s lights flashed in the background.