AUSTIN, Texas — Day three of testimony wrapped up in the murder trial of a rideshare driver accused of killing a protester in Austin nearly three years ago.
Sgt. Daniel Perry says he shot Garrett Foster in self defense in July 2020 when Foster allegedly raised his rifle at him.
A total of nine witnesses took the stand Thursday, including fellow protesters who were at the location where Foster got shot, a medic and three Austin Police Department (APD) officers who responded to the shooting.
One witness, Lyric Costley, remembered hearing the commotion after Perry's car drove close to the crowd of protesters. Costley walked toward the vehicle to try to get a look at the driver and attempted to get photos of the license plate.
When an attorney asked Costley if he could make out Perry's expressions, he responded: "Anger is the best I could use to describe that expression. [It] wasn't fear."
Niko Daisy was also at the protest, and he remembers the shots ringing out from the car into the crowd and the subsequent screaming. After that, Daisy took a knee and grabbed the gun he had on hand, shooting it three times at the car. Daisy explained that he shot the car so bullet holes could be identified later.
After firing the pistol, Daisy placed it in his pocket and ran towards the commotion.
"I ran up to a person I would later identify as Whitney [Mitchell, Foster's fiancée]. She was lying on the ground, screaming, so I ran to her first. At which point, either her or someone around her said, 'No, no, it's him.' At which point I ran over to who would later be identified as Garrett Foster," Daisy said.
Daisy also works as an EMS medic. He checked for a pulse on Foster but didn't feel one.
Another witness, Haven Trahan, took the stand after Daisy. Trahan stated that he had been waiting at least two and a half years to testify in this case.
The trial resumes again Friday morning.