Defense: Raleigh homeowner faced 'chaos' when he shot, killed man in front yard

Chad Cameron Copley, 40, is charged with murder in the Aug. 7, 2016, death of 20-year-old Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas. Thursday was the first day of testimony in the trial after three days of jury selection.

David Walker, a friend of Thomas', said they went to the house party on Singleleaf Lane with another friend, Chris Malone, but found it boring because there weren't enough women there.

"There was too much meat and not enough tacos," Walker said, recalling how he and Thomas milled around in the front yard with some other people.

When the pair saw flashing police lights down the street, Thomas started running back to their car parked down the street because he had some marijuana in his pocket and didn't want to get caught, Walker said.

Walker then realized the police car had made a traffic stop nearby and wasn't coming to the party, and he called out to Thomas to stop.

"By the time he looked toward me, he was already shot," Walker said, adding that Thomas screamed for someone to call 911 as he collapsed on the ground.

Walker said he ran down the street to get help from the police officer making the traffic stop and then sat on the curb in shock, calling friends to let them know what happened.

"It was heartbreaking. It didn't make any sense for this to happen to him," he said.

Malone said he was inside the house when he heard about the shooting, and he rushed to Thomas' side in a yard a few houses away. Thomas was facedown in the grass, a few feet from the curb, trying to breathe.

Malone said he and a few women trying to comfort Thomas as they waited for paramedics were the only people in the yard.

He said he quickly figured out the shot had come from the garage of the darkened home because he saw a shattered window on the garage door.

Defense attorney Brad Polk told jurors in his opening statement that Copley was home with his family and was confronted with "all this chaos" from the party a few houses away. People were crossing his yard, yelling profanities and sometimes brandishing weapons, Polk said.

In a 911 call played for the jury, Copley can be heard telling someone before the dispatcher answers, "I'm going to kill him."

Investigators said Copley fired a shotgun through a window from inside his garage, killing Thomas in his front yard.

Barry Carroll, who has since retired as a Wake County deputy, said he noticed shards of glass on Copley's driveway and saw the shattered window. He later confronted Copley in the garage and asked him if he was responsible for the shooting. Copley calmly responded yes as he sat on a couch putting on his shoes, Carroll said.

"There was no panic. There was no intensity," he said of Copley's reaction. "It was very nonchalant."

Carroll said he later searched the yard to see if there were any weapons outside but didn't find any.

Jace Williams, one of the people hosting the party, said he saw no guns at the event and said people were trying to keep the noise down so as not to disturb neighbors.

Williams said he was outside when the shooting happened, making sure a large group of people who were leaving didn't cause any problems. But he didn't hear the shot, only people screaming afterward, he said.

Walker and Malone likewise said they didn't see any guns or witness any rowdy behavior at the party.

Two of Copley's neighbors said they didn't hear any shouting, cars racing or other raucous behavior that night. They did hear, however, a loud crack that split the night.

"I knew in my heart it was a gunshot," said Elizabeth Prochaska, whose property backs up to Copley's house.

The Neuse Crossing neighborhood doesn't have an organized neighborhood watch, Prochaska said, and neither she nor any of her neighbors was asked to "secure the neighborhood" that night.