Michael Dunn Tells Jury It Was ‘Life Or Death’ In Killing Of Black Teen Playing Loud ‘Rap Crap’


Michael Dunn, the accused “loud music” killer on trial for the shooting death of 17-year-old African-American teenager Jordan Davis, took the stand in his own defense Tuesday to tell jurors in sometimes tearful testimony that he feared for his life when Davis threatened him with a shotgun.

But when the 47-year-old software engineer’s fiancé, Rhonda Rouer, testified later Tuesday, she said that Michael Dunn never mentioned to her that the teenager was armed, as well as contradicting another key point of Dunn’s testimony.

The trial stems from an incident in November of 2012 when Dunn and Rouer parked in the parking lot of a Jacksonville, Florida, convenience store next to a red SUV whose occupants were playing extremely loud music. Dunn asked the teens to turn it down and when they didn’t, Dunn — who had a legal concealed weapons permit for a 9-millimeter handgun that he kept in his glove compartment — blasted 10 rounds into the SUV.

He then drove away and never called police, who caught up with him the next day.

But in his Tuesday testimony in the Jacksonville courtroom, Michael Dunn claimed that he fired not because of the “rap crap” emanating from the SUV, but because he felt a “clear and present danger” and was certain that one of the teens in the vehicle was wielding a firearm.

He also said that he heard Davis make an explicit threat on his life, saying first, “I should kill this m***********,” then as Davis opened the door of the SUV, “You’re dead, bitch.”

That is when, Michael Dunn said, he retrieved his pistol and opened fire, describing the situation at that point as “life or death.”

The SUV quickly pulled out of the parking lot, but Dunn then said he dropped to one knee and continued firing at the fleeing vehicle. He said that he did this to stop the teens from firing back at him out the car window.

He said that he told Roeur that the teen in the car had a gun, but Rouer said she never heard him say that. Dunn also claimed that after hearing news reports that a person had been killed in the incident, he called a friend in law enforcement and asked to discuss the matter with him.

Rouer also contradicted that claim in her testimony.

Prosecutors also attempted to poke holes in the Michael Dunn testimony, asking why the teenagers, if they were armed and already threatening to use their supposed gun, never fired at Dunn.

Michael Dunn admitted on the stand that the teenagers never shot back at him, even as he squeezed off round after round in their direction. Police never found the weapon that Dunn said he saw.

Two of the three teens who survived the shooting had no criminal records. The other had a single third-degree felony conviction. The autopsy on Davis, who had no drugs or alcohol in his system, showed that he was shot while sitting down. Michael Dunn said that Davis was out of the car and advancing on him when he opened fire.

Share this article: Michael Dunn Tells Jury It Was ‘Life Or Death’ In Killing Of Black Teen Playing Loud ‘Rap Crap’
More from Inquisitr