COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Moments before he was shot dead in a Lincoln Square alley last spring, Dusanti Hassell looked up toward his killer and begged, "please, please," prosecutors said Monday.
Amin Smith had grabbed Hassell's handgun during a scuffle, according to court testimony, and ultimately used it to fire a fatal bullet through the left side of Hassell's skull about 6:30 p.m. March 22, 2015.
Smith, now 23, is charged with first-degree murder. His jury trial began Monday afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, 2600 S. California Ave.
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According to prosecutors, Smith and Hassell were friends who, shortly before the shooting, spent time together running errands in a red Jeep Cherokee with two other people.
When the Cherokee's driver stopped to urinate in a Lincoln Square alley near the 2200 block of West Winnemac Avenue about 6:30 p.m. March 22, 2015, Smith and Hassell got into an argument inside the Jeep, prosecutors said.
The two men got out of the SUV and began to scuffle in the alley, according to Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Joy Repella. That's when multiple witnesses heard a loud boom as Smith allegedly shot Hassell once in the head.
Prosecutors claim Smith grabbed the gun from Hassell's waistband as the men fought. Smith then stood over Hassell — who'd been knocked to the ground and was begging "please, please" — and pulled the trigger, Repella said.
Defense attorney Frank Himel argued during his opening statement that Smith was acting in self-defense when he shot Hassell. Hassell had grabbed the gun first, Himel said, and Smith wrestled it away from him.
"That's not first-degree murder," Himel said. "That's self-defense."
Himel argued the shooting never would have happened if Hassell hadn't been armed.
After the shooting, Smith ran back to the Jeep, where he cleaned the gun with a towel, prosecutors said. He lost his phone during the fight with Hassell and borrowed a friend's phone to call his mother for a ride, according to Repella.
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Witness Johnard Washington was smoking on his back deck when he heard a commotion in the alley, he testified Monday. Washington could make out a male voice and several sets of feet, he said, before a single gunshot reverberated through the alley.
"I remember distinctly asking myself: Should I or should I not open my back gate," Washington said Monday. "I did. ... And then I called 911."
Washington had spotted Hassell laying dead on the ground.
Other witnesses Monday included a medical examiner and Hassell's childhood friend. The trial is slated to resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Judge Vincent Gaughan's courtroom.
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