Jurors deliberate after closing arguments in Brooks Sandwich House murder case

For six years, David Brooks has wondered if the men accused of killing his twin, Scott, will face justice.

On Monday, Brooks and his family watched attorneys make closing arguments in Mecklenburg County Superior Court — moving jurors one step closer to deciding if Terry Connor and Steven Staples are guilty of shooting and killing Scott Brooks, 61, at his family’s restaurant, Brooks Sandwich House, on Dec. 9, 2019.

“It’s been long and lengthy, but I’m glad we’re probably coming to a close,” Brooks said in an interview with The Charlotte Observer Monday.

An assistant district attorney and two defense attorneys representing Connor and Staples gave closing arguments, hoping to sway 12 jurors and three alternates on five potential charges. The charges include first-degree murder, robbery with a firearm, conspiracy to commit robbery with a firearm, kidnapping and possession of a firearm by a felon. Connor and Staples both pleaded not guilty.

Men watched, planned killing, prosecutor says

The state had no eyewitness testimony and surveillance footage only showing two masked people robbing and shooting Scott Brooks at the restaurant. Assistant DA Nikki Robinson had to not only place Connor and Staples at the scene the night of the crime, but prove they were the ones who committed the crime.

Robinson focused on phone data. She said phone numbers belonging to Connor and Staples at the time of the shooting pinged on towers nearby. She said they pinged on the night of the crime as well as a few days before — when she accused them of staking out the location and planning out the robbery. The phones also pinged at homes she said matched where the two men lived.

Additionally, Robinson said, no one has testified to say the men were anywhere else the night of the shooting.

The two men, she said, picked the Brooks brothers’ restaurant because it is a cash-only business and within walking distance from Connor’s home. Robinson showed video surveillance from the night of the shooting.

The footage showed two people masked at 4:32 a.m. approaching the restaurant. Brooks had just pulled up in his blue Infiniti to begin prepping the restaurant for opening. Within a few minutes, the men approached Brooks, and took him inside the restaurant through the back side door. Robinson said they knew to do this because they watched and planned ahead.

Footage from inside showed the men taking money from Brooks’ pockets. At one point, Brooks moves and the two people fire four times. Robinson said the men hit Brooks three times after Brooks shot at them and missed, hitting a radiator instead.

The men ran out at 4:43 a.m., leaving Brooks “moaning for help” and dying, Robinson said. A 911 call went out two minutes later.

Robinson also cited testimony from a woman who had a child with Connor, Keleasta Smith. Robinson said Smith admitted to police that Connor killed Brooks and got rid of the weapon.

Defense closing arguments

But defense attorneys Kenneth Snow and Laura Baker tried to poke holes in the state’s witnesses and evidence. Snow pointed to Smith being an unreliable witness. She lied multiple times to police during interviews, Snow said, and couldn’t be trusted.

Baker took issue with the state’s argument that the phone data placed the two men at the scene of the crime. The data can only show someone’s approximate location, she said.

And because there’s no eyewitness testimony, video surveillance only showing two masked men, and no fingerprints or DNA evidence, there’s nothing that proves Connor and Staples are responsible, both attorneys said.

Both also said the state brought out “props” of unrelated evidence — guns and costume masks not used in the crime but found at their homes — to scare the jurors into a guilty verdict.

“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Not in this courtroom,” Baker said. “Close is not guilty.”

After all three attorneys finished, Judge Louis A. Trosch Jr. sent the jury out for deliberation.

Asked how he felt about the chances of a guilty verdict, David Brooks said he couldn’t be sure.

“But the jury’s taking a working lunch,” Brooks said. “So maybe that’s an indication it’s not gonna take too long.”