Getaway driver: Man on trial for murder was not coerced

PERRY -- A Warner Robins man on trial in Houston County for murder initially did not want to be part of a 2010 home invasion that went awry when another man was shot and killed, but he did go along with it in the end, the getaway driver testified Tuesday.

Nick Brooks, 30, and Michael “Scotty” Cossette, 27, both of Warner Robins, and Kelly Williamson, 22, of Centerville, are all accused of the April 6, 2010, home invasion for drugs and cash at a Houston County home near Centerville in which Jason Blount, 31, of Houston County, was killed.

Brooks is now on trial in Superior Court for felony murder. He also is charged with burglary, attempted armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during a crime.

Cossette, the admitted shooter, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years after pleading guilty to felony murder and burglary April 14.

Williamson, who admitted to serving as the getaway driver, took the witness stand Tuesday.

Clad in a green inmate jumpsuit and handcuffed, Williamson testified that it was Cossette who wanted to rob the 918 Collins Ave., Lot 60, residence for drugs and money, that Cossette drew up a diagram of the inside of the mobile home with her help, and that Cossette made masks out of sweatpants and a T-shirt, for himself and Brooks, that he took from her bedroom dresser.

She also testified that Cossette had the gun, having retrieved it from where he buried it in the woods off Skipper Road in Macon on the eve of the home invasion, and that Cossette told her he kicked in the front door of the mobile home and shot Blount during the home invasion.

But Williamson also testified that she never heard Cossette threaten Brooks or saw Cossette put a gun to his head while the three were alone in the back bedroom of a mutual friend’s mobile home a few hours before the 4:30 a.m. home invasion.

“At first, he (Brooks) didn’t want to go along with it, but he did,” Williamson told jurors.

Williamson, who also told jurors about shooting up methamphetamine with Cossette, testified that Cossette “needed Nick to be there” and “needed me to be in the truck.”

Williamson testified that she had an intimate sexual relationship with Cossette, whom she had feelings for and cared about.

Back at the mutual friend’s mobile home after the botched home invasion, Williamson testified that Cossette told her and Brooks that, “if anything happened, we all need to have the same story.” The story was to be that all had been at the friend’s home all night and had never left, and all three of them agreed to it, Williamson told jurors.

The defense case is based on the premise that Brooks was coerced to participate in the home invasion by Cossette, and that Cossette allegedly threatened to kill Brooks if he did not go along with it. The prosecution contends that Brooks was a willing participant and is just as guilty of Blount’s death as if Brooks himself had pulled the trigger.

Williamson also told jurors that she agreed to testify in Brooks’ trial because of an offer from the district attorney of immunity, in that her testimony cannot be used against her, an expected plea in the case to something less than murder, and a sentence of less than life but including a prison term. Williamson said she also testified because she was not happy that Brooks was the one who told Houston County sheriff’s investigators about her involvement.

Williamson testified she initially lied to sheriff’s investigators, first saying that she and Cossette had been at the mobile home of their friend all night. She then told investigators that Cossette and Brooks had committed the home invasion but left out her involvement.

Williamson testified she was initially let go without being charged with the crime after Cossette was arrested at a Hatcher Road residence in Houston County where she told authorities he was staying. Williamson told jurors she was later arrested after Brooks told sheriff’s investigators of her involvement when he was arrested.

Evidence introduced Tuesday included an emotional 911 call from the homeowner after the home invasion, in which Blount’s girlfriend is heard weeping and wailing in the background, and later talks to the 911 operator. She and Blount were staying the night at their friend’s house because their electricity was cut off. She told the 911 operator she was ordered to the ground by a man wearing a green mask.

Other evidence introduced Tuesday included graphic photos from the autopsy, and from inside the mobile home where there was an extensive blood trail in the hallway and kitchen. Blount’s family members wept throughout this part of the court proceedings.

Testimony is expected to continue Wednesday.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.

This story was originally published April 27, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Getaway driver: Man on trial for murder was not coerced."