LOUISVILLE, Ky. — One of the teenagers convicted of killing two teen boys in 2016 took the stand in Brice Rhodes' triple-murder trial on Wednesday.
Anjuan Carter was just 15 years old when 14-year-old Larry Ordway and 16-year-old Maurice Gordon Jr. were brutally murdered in May of 2016. In court, he testified that Rhodes, then 26, told him to kill them.
Rhodes has been accused of murdering the two boys after they witnessed him shoot and kill 40-year-old Christopher Jones.
Days after Jones' death, Carter said Rhodes became aware that Ordway and Gordon told their mother about the shooting. That's when prosecutors say Rhodes picked up the teen brothers and took them to his home.
While there, Carter said Gordon got into a heated argument with a friend, prompting him to grab a knife and Rhodes took the knife from his hands.
"He said he was going to violate him," Carter told the jury, adding that Rhodes made the group of boys vote on whether Ordway and Gordon should die.
He said he was the only "no" vote, but once they voted, Rhodes stabbed the two boys and made everyone do the same.
DNA evidence
On Wednesday, LMPD tech Jessie Huffman showed the jury images of the scene where the teens were found side-by-side. She said their bodies and clothing had been burned and they suffered from several wounds.
Huffman also said she tested evidence, including the driver's seat of Rhodes' car, which appeared to have blood on it. However, during the defense's cross-examination, attorneys questioned LMPD's handling of evidence.
Attorneys specifically pointed to the back seat of the car, which they said was in police custody.
"I didn't take any evidence of any back seat," Huffman said.
"And if you had it would be in your report?" attorneys questioned.
"That's correct," she responded.
Defense attorneys revisited the conversation about the back seat during LMPD Sgt. Jason Vance's testimony. Vance said he didn't remember finding a seat, but records presented in court said otherwise.
"You remember going to the dumpster, and in that dumpster, you remember recovering the seat there?" attorneys asked.
"That's what, what I'm saying to the person I'm interviewing, but I do not recall that, but I'm reading the transcript," Vance said.
Instead, Vance said he remembers finding Gordon's cell phone inside co-defendant Carter's couch.
LMPD personnel said they also recovered several objects from Rhodes' home including knives and a carpet with DNA evidence that matched that of Gordon and Ordway.
The trial will continue on Thursday.
Other people charged
There are three other people charged in connection to this case; all have already pleaded guilty in the murders.
Tieren Coleman, Jacorey Lamont Taylor, and Anjuan Carter were all teenagers when they were indicted.
Taylor was charged in October of 2016 and took a plea deal in 2018. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
As part of Carter's plea deal, he agreed to testify against Rhodes and explain his relationship with Rhodes and the two victims.
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