Published: May 05, 2008 01:22 pm      

BREAKING NEWS: Neighbor offers emotional testimony

As the state continued its case Monday in the capital murder trial of Randall Wayne Mays, a neighbor who lives next door to where the shooting offered emotional testimony about what she saw on May 17, 2007 — when Henderson County Sheriff's Investigator Paul Habelt and Deputy Tony Ogburn were shot and killed.

Fran Nicholson witnessed parts of the disturbance that resulted in the deaths of the two HCSD officers. Habelt and Ogburn arrived on the scene after answering a disturbance call. Henderson County District Attorney Donna Bennett said both officers were shot point-blank by a deer rifle.

Nicholson broke down crying on the witness stand as she recounted the events of the day. At one point, she said, she dropped on her knees to pray. She said she then saw blood on the back of a HCSD police cruiser.

Another dispatcher working at the sheriff's office on the day of the shooting also testified during the morning session.