Jan 10, 2025 By Mike Jones 3 min read

A Washington County jury will begin deliberating today on the fate of Brandon Ronald Allen, who is charged with homicide after investigators accused him of firing one of the gunshots during a drive-by shooting that killed a Washington woman in May 2022.

Both the prosecution and defense rested Thursday after the second day of testimony in Allen’s homicide trial at the Washington County Courthouse in connection with the shooting death of 58-year-old Kristin Barfield as she sat on her porch outside her Ridge Avenue home.

During testimony Thursday, the defense called only one witness, Amari Miller, who said he was riding in the front seat of the car while Allen was driving when he heard shots ring out from the back seat. He testified that he looked back and saw Juan Worthey III stretched across Tyriq Moss firing multiple gunshots out the window.

“I heard gunshots and it sounded like it was behind me,” Miller testified. “I saw Juan over Ty shooting out the window. … I looked to the front and I saw Brandon racking his gun, but I never saw him take a shot.”

Previous testimony indicated that Barfield’s son, Trey Willis, who was standing in the yard in front of his mother, was the intended target, but she was struck instead. Barfield died of a single gunshot wound to the chest. Investigators accused Allen of firing one shot, while they said Worthey fired multiple shots.

Worthey and Moss, who were both juveniles at the time, are also charged with homicide in the case. Moss, who testified against Allen on Wednesday and will do so again when Worthey goes to trial later this year, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in order to have all charges against him dropped. Miller has never been accused of any wrong-doing and is not facing any charges in connection with Barfield’s killing.

Allen’s defense attorney, Bill Difenderfer, asked Miller about the weather conditions during the shooting on May 11, 2022, and the witness responded that it was warm, so the air conditioning was on in the car and the driver’s side window was up before the shooting.

In cross-examination, Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann noted that Miller saw Allen holding a green and tan handgun, which was never located by investigators.

“You saw him with a gun in the car?” Friedmann asked.

“Yes,” Miller responded.

Friedmann also pinpointed Miller’s testimony that he never saw Moss holding a firearm, as the defense has previously claimed.

Earlier in the day, the prosecution provided a ballistics expert to testify that five of the six shell casings found at the scene matched a handgun Worthey was later seen holding on video surveillance. The sixth shell casing found at the scene did not match any guns that were recovered as part of the investigation, which prosecutors claim came from a firearm used by Allen that he disposed of in the aftermath of the shooting.

Judge Valarie Costanzo, who is presiding over the trial, dismissed the jury shortly after lunch Thursday when the defense rested, and then met with attorneys on both sides in her chamber. She asked the jury to return to the courthouse at 9 a.m. today to listen to closing arguments before beginning deliberations.

Allen, 33, of Washington, is facing charges of homicide, possession of a firearm and two counts each of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, conspiracy and reckless endangerment. He is being held without bond at the Washington County jail.