Redman trial to enter Day 2

STEUBENVILLE -- A witness Tuesday told jurors deciding the fate of Daiscia Redman that she'd wanted him to be her lookout while she set fire to an Oregon Avenue home where a woman who'd once been involved with her boyfriend lived.

Andrew Whitsett, 23, said in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court he was also present hours earlier when Redman, a Wheeling resident, told a friend she'd pay him $50 if he bought the gas for her.

Redman, 22, is on trial for allegedly setting fire to the home of Shilyn Crawford while Crawford, her mother, brother and toddler daughter were sleeping in the early morning hours of May 2.

She's also charged with felonious assault and discharging a firearm in or over a roadway after a shots-fired incident targeting another of Crawford's brothers, Shaquil Petteway.

Whitsett, her co-defendant, previously accepted a plea deal for his role in the violence, admitting to the jurors he'd taken three or four shots at Petteway, but he insisted it was Redman who told him the gun was in the glove compartment.

In exchange for his guilty plea to felonious assault and discharging a gun on or in a roadway with firearm specifications, Whitsett was sentenced to a minimum of nine years in prison, the first three years of it mandatory because firearms were involved. The arson charge was dropped.

Whitsett said he working at a Wheeling rental property he owns when Redman walked in and "asked someone to go to the store for her."

"She took him to a gas station, she paid him $50 to get gasoline for her," he said.

He said he'd stopped at a gas station in downtown Steubenville on the way home when Redman told him to stay where he was because she wanted to meet up with him.

"We were riding around, circling this one block like she was looking for something, looking for a house," he said. "The way she pointed it out was she saw a car … that's when she knew it had to be the house."

"Really, before that, I'd heard bits and pieces about some girl in Steubenville," he said. "After I was in the car with her, she mentioned she wanted me to be look out for her."

"She tells you she wants to start a fire that night and wants you to be the lookout?" Prosecutor Jane Hanlin asked.

"Yes," Whitsett replied, telling Hanlin he didn't want to be involved in setting Crawford's house on fire so, "I got out of her car."

He said the following day Redman asked him to go with her to the Fort Steuben Mall, but after he plugged the address into his map app he noticed "deviations" in the route she was taking.

"After we circled about two times, that's when she mentioned someone was following her," Whitsett said. "I didn't know if somebody was following us or not, I wasn't really thinking about it at the time.

"We went through an alley and when we came out … there was a car behind us, an SUV. She mentioned, 'That's the girl's brother.' I think we ended up at a stop sign, I'm not sure if the car was right behind us or not. I told her to stop, pull over to the side and let him go in front of us. The other car went in front of us," he added. "She had already pointed out her gun was in the glove compartment. I grabbed it. On the way back ... he rolled ahead of us and cut us off, and said something … that's when I reached out and shot the gun."

Hanlin told the jury Redman used social media platforms to document her fixation on Crawford and her family, going so far as to post a video clip on Snapchat of a distinctively tattooed man holding his hands out while a woman pours bleach on his arms and hands, giggling in the background.

Whitsett told Hanlin it was his hands in the video.

"It was made after the shots were fired" at his house in Wheeling, Whitsett said, adding Redman did it "to get gunpowder off" his hands and arms.

On cross-examination, Eric Reszke, defense attorney, pointed out Whitsett had denied involvement in the shooting before entering his guilty plea, suggesting his memory miraculously returned after he got "a pretty sweet" sentencing agreement from the state.

"When you say you heard Daiscia was buying gas to light a house up, did you (tell police)?" Reszke asked.

"At that point in time I didn't really know what the gasoline was for," Whitsett replied. "I didn't figure that out til later."

He told Hanlin he wouldn't have had access to a gun that day, "If (Redman) hadn't told him there was one in the glove compartment."

Steubenville Police Sgt. Brian Bissett told the jury he'd used locating data and posts recovered from Redman's social media accounts as well as the city's video surveillance cameras to track where she was in proximity to Crawford's home, the shots fired incident and an earlier incident in which Crawford said she saw a woman driving a white car following her home from work, but didn't report it to police.

Bissett said Redman's social media history made it clear she'd been searching for information on Crawford and Shaquil Petteway, though when he interviewed her a few weeks after the incidents she denied it, telling him "she did not know (Shaquil Petteway's) name until she was served her warrants." He said he recovered a Snapchat photo Redman had taken of Crawford's home and the dousing-Whitsett's hands with bleach video.

Bissett also reviewed dashcam video of a city patrolman pulling Redman over minutes after the shooting, only to have to let them go after another emergency call came in.

Reszke pointed out for the jury none of the pictures or video footage shown in court Tuesday "showed the people inside the car."

"We can't see whoever is operating that motor vehicle," Reszke said. "You also can't identify the license plate for that vehicle. Were there any searches (on her phone) about how to start a fire, anything about arson, any post showing Ms. Redman looking for information on the fire?"

He reminded Bissett that, earlier in the day, Crawford had read for the jury a series of expletive-laced text messages she'd sent Redman after the fire and shooting.

"All the social media, if you ever see anything threatening it was Shyline, Shaq and others," Reszke said, referring to the two women as "keyboard warriors."

"I don't know about that, a house actually got set on fire," Bissett replied. "It seemed like there was a lot of back and forth."

Reszke also questioned why Crawford's stepfather was ruled out as a suspect early on, since he and his wife are divorcing and earlier in the day he'd had a confrontation with Shaquil Petteway. There were no arrests, but police responded.

"He was crossed off after all the other evidence (developed)," Bissett replied.

"Wouldn't it have been better to have a fresh look?" Reszke asked.

"Not in this case, no," Bissett responded. "… There was nothing to look at. Everything led towards where we are today."

Reszke also questioned Bissett about Redman filing a report about "people threatening (her)" after the fire and shots-fired incident.

Bissett told him Redman was crying when he interviewed her about the threats she said she was receiving "but I'm not sure she was truly upset."

"You said she was crying," Reszke countered.

"I've also seen people fake-crying," Bissett replied.

Bissett told Reszke there was no footage of Redman actually setting the fire, but on redirect, Hanlin pointed out that, "unless she went so far as to film herself starting (it), there is no city camera outside" Crawford's house.

"Did she refuse at every step of the way to tell you what happened at the fire?" she asked.

"Yes, she did not want to talk," Bissett replied. "She would offer some unrelated information that would benefit her."

The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today with the defense presenting its case. Reszke gave no indication if Redman planned to take the stand.