One of the men accused of killing T.I.’s assistant and childhood friend, Philant Johnson, went on trial for the murder in Cincinnati yesterday:
Prosecutors told a jury that they are sure Hosea Thomas fired the fatal shot because of their star witness – Padron Thomas, the accused killer’s brother who was driving the Jeep that night as it chased T.I.’s vans down Seymour Avenue.
“It’s all going to come down to witness testimony,” assistant Hamilton County prosecutor Heather Gosselin told jurors today.
Hosea Thomas, 34, is charged with murder, felonious assault and other charges stemming from the incident. Three members of T.I.’s entourage were injured and a fourth, Philant Johnson, died after being shot in the head during the running gunbattle. Johnson was T.I.’s assistant and childhood friend.
Hosea Thomas, Gosselin said, was hit in the head with a bottle while inside Roselawn’s Club Ritz, where T.I. and his crew were attending an afterparty following a concert at Bogart’s.
That started a fight that resulted in patrons pouring out of the club. Within minutes, T.I.’s two vans were chased by a green Jeep Cherokee and the shooting took place.
Padron Thomas, 40, told officials he was driving the Jeep as his brother, Hosea, fired the shots at T.I.’s vans. At least one member of T.I.’s crew returned fire.
Cincinnati police officer Dom Meece testified today that the scene inside T.I.’s van was “something out of a horror movie” with blood dripping off of the ceiling and brain matter on the floor.
After the shooting, Gosselin said, Padron Thomas had his Jeep painted black and had a bullet hole in it repaired. Source
