Opening statements began Thursday in the trial for two brothers accused of murdering Lafayette boxer Brandon Broussard.
According to our media partners at The Advocate, state prosecutor Roya Boustany told the jury that the state's evidence will demonstrate that Carlos Toby was the "thinker" and his brother, Shavis Toby, was the "actor" in Broussard's murder.
Broussard was shot to death at his home on Grossie Lane on October 13, 2018, in front of his 4-year-old child.
Boustany said that two weeks before the murder, Carlos Toby and Broussard fought at a nightclub after Broussard found a text on his girlfriend's phone from Carlos Toby, her ex-boyfriend and father of her child.
Cell phone records show that Carlos, who was living in Texas at the time of the shooting, and Shavis, who was living in New Iberia, met in Lafayette about seven hours before Broussard was killed.
Witness statements and surveillance helped identify Carlos Toby as a person of interest, while DNA that matched that of Shavis Toby was found on a glove at the scene of the shooting, The Advocate reports. The gun allegedly used in the shooting would later be found at a Vermilion Parish home connected to the brothers.
The brothers' attorneys, however, said the state's evidence is "questionable" and doesn't prove they are responsible for Broussard's death. They pointed out that the brothers' descriptions don't necessarily match those of witness statements.
"The state does not know what happened in this case," he told the jury. "That's not me saying it. That's what their evidence is going to show."
The trial was expected to continue Thursday afternoon with presentation of evidence and witness testimony.
Read more from The Advocate here.
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