Jun 15, 2009 7:20 pm US/Eastern
Man's 9-1-1 Tape Played At Alleged Killer's Trial
BRONX (CBS) ―
The sounds of a young man's final moments were played in a Bronx courtroom Monday.
He managed to dial 9-1-1 as his killers came to his door, while his mother was also making desperate calls to save her son.
19-year-old Levi Bernard was gunned down in 2004 as his mother, Marilyn Samuels, listened from behind her bedroom door.
"People are in my house, they're killing my kids!" Marilyn shouted during her emergency call.
The dramatic tape was played at the Bronx trial of Terry Bazemore, the last of four people charged with Bernard's murder.
The chain of events began when Bernard met a woman named "Lovely" in an internet chat room. "Lovely" was actually Latisha Lindsay, and when she went to Bernard's house, he rejected her.
Lindsay was allegedly so angry that she told friends Bernard had raped her, and then arranged for three men to go to Bernard's house on Hammersley Avenue in Baychester to kill him.
"Mom, mom, stay in there!" Bernard is heard saying while on the phone with emergency dispatchers.
Bernard called 9-1-1 from his cell phone as his mother called from her bedroom.
She listened as one of her sons jumped out the window to safety – and Levi was shot to death.
"Who's shooting?" the operator asked Marilyn.
"I don't know. People are in my house," Marilyn responded. "I don't know. Please hurry!"
Bernard's mother cried as she listened to the tape in the courtroom. Her testimony has already helped convict two of the suspects.
Lindsay was acquitted on murder charges, but is serving 15 years for illegally entering the victim's home.
Bazemore's lawyer says his client fled the scene when he realized his accomplices had guns. He'll take the stand later in the trial in his own defense.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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