The lead detective investigating Latrena May's death took the stand Thursday.
NEWARK -- When Detective Kevin Green approached Latrena May's apartment in East Orange after her May 1, 2015 killing, the signs of violence were clear, he testified Thursday before an Essex County jury.
Latrena May. (Facebook)"As I approached the crime scene, I could clearly see what I believed was a body, beneath a blanket," he told Assistant Prosecutor Justin Edwab, describing a trail of blood that led up the steps of 164 Tremont Ave. and into May's residence. "There was a lot of blood leading into a child's room."
Andre Higgs, 45, of Watchung, is on trial before Superior Court Judge Ronald D. Wigler on charges of murder and other offenses in the death of 27-year-old May, a teacher at Pride Academy Charter School and the mother of Higgs' daughter.
Higgs is accused of fatally shooting May on the steps of her East Orange apartment building after she flagged down a passing police officer, Detective Kemon Lee, who subsequently shot Higgs. Authorities allege that following the shooting, Higgs barricaded himself inside May's home, where he was arrested by a police tactical team.
Higgs' attorneys, Remi Spencer and Joseph P. Rem Jr., are attempting to show Lee shot first, causing Higgs to inadvertently shoot May.
The couple's then 4-year-old daughter was unharmed during the incident, and was sheltered by May's upstairs neighbors during what police described as a standoff.
Green, the lead homicide detective on the case for the Prosecutor's Office, said he conducted his investigation jointly with a detective from the agency's Professional Standards Bureau, which was looking into Lee's shooting of Higgs. Lee's actions were later ruled justifiable by the state Attorney General's Office.
Asked whether rules required officers to radio dispatch when they got out of their patrol vehicle -- which Lee did not do -- Green, a former member of the East Orange Police Department, told Edwab there was no "standard operating procedure" that would require that action.
Detective Nicholas Rizzitello, a member of the Prosecutor's Office crime scene unit, testified Wednesday that investigators recovered nine .40-caliber cartridge casings and three .45-caliber casings at the scene.
Bullets of the latter caliber were recovered from May's body.
Green said a .45-caliber Astra handgun recovered from inside the home was stolen in 2012, although it was not determined to have been stolen by Higgs.
Higgs, he said, did not have a permit to possess a gun, according to state records.
Neighbors describe scene of teacher's killing
In surveillance video played for the jury, Green pointed out what he said looked like a gun in the waistband of Higgs' pants as he faced away from the camera prior to the shooting.
Dashcam video from Lee's patrol car shows the officer firing at Higgs, but not Higgs shooting May, while surveillance footage from a nearby building showed only Higgs parking his pickup across the street from May's apartment.
Spencer objected to Green's identification of the object as a gun, arguing it was only the detective's opinion.
Wigler said he would allow the detective to offer his opinion, as the jury will be able to review the video evidence themselves during deliberations.
The trial is expected to resume Tuesday.
Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.