Roosevelt Benton takes stand, says fatal Elyria shooting was in defense of a friend

ELYRIA — Roosevelt Benton testified Thursday that he fatally shot another man during a 2023 drug deal in the parking lot of the Elyria Walmart in defense of a friend who was being attacked with a knife inside his car. Benton, 20, testified that he shot Nick Tubbs, 21, after Tubbs pulled a red folding knife and attacked Michael Riggins inside Benton's car. Benton shot Nick Tubbs once in the pelvis before he and Riggins drove off. Tubbs, who didn't know Benton, died in a hospital the next morning. Ohio voters legalized adult cannabis use in a vote on Nov. 7, 2023, five days after Nick Tubbs was shot. The defendant gave nearly six hours of testimony on the sixth day of his murder trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Benton has pleaded not guilty to murder, felonious assault, improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, all felonies, and related specifications. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office and Elyria Police Department allege Benton and Riggins intended to rob Nick Tubbs when they met him in the parking lot Nov. 2, 2023 to buy two ounces of marijuana. Nick Tubbs' red Milwaukee folding knife was clipped to the inside of his pants pocket when police and paramedics arrived at the scene of the shooting, according to trial testimony and video evidence presented to the jury. Riggins, who has not been charged with any crimes, refused to testify in court, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. Benton testified he started his own delivery company with his parents' help before he graduated from Cleveland Heights High School. By the summer of 2023, he had one van, an employee and was making $2,500 to $3,000 per week doing special deliveries across the country. He had also run into problems, especially after a delivery in Houston, Texas, when someone tried to steal his truck. Benton testified he wasn't hurt, but the attempted carjacking "made me more aware of my surroundings." Benton later decided to get a gun, and bought a 9mm Stoeger handgun from a friend's older brother for $400 in late summer 2023. He testified that he carried it everywhere he went, loaded and tucked into the waistband of his pants. "I felt like I always needed it," Benton told his defense attorney, Chris Rewak, in court. "I needed to protect myself." Between delivery trips and short stints at several other businesses in Lorain County, Benton spent his free time smoking marijuana and "chilling" with friends, including Riggins. It was on Nov. 2, 2023, that Benton and Riggins decided to hang out after work and smoke weed. Benton testified he picked up Riggins in Elyria in Benton's black 2017 Honda Accord, and the two went "joy riding" around town until Riggins told Benton to drive to the Walmart on Chestnut Commons Drive. Benton testified he didn't know that Riggins had already set up a deal to buy two "zips," slang for an ounce of marijuana, from Nick Tubbs. Benton testified he and Riggins sat in the parking lot smoking marijuana and looking at their phones until Nick Tubbs pulled up in a gray Kia Soul, got out and got into the back passenger seat of Benton's car. The whole time, Benton's handgun was jammed in between the driver's seat and center console, Benton testified. As Benton testified about seeing Nick Tubbs for the first time, he got emotional on the witness stand, choking back tears and holding his hand over his eyes at times. Nick Tubbs had two baggies of marijuana, which he passed to Riggins, who smelled it but didn't want to buy the whole supply, Benton testified. According to Benton, Riggins only wanted 1/8th of an ounce for each of them, but Nick Tubbs said: "I thought you were buying more." About this time, Nick Tubbs' brother Tyler Tubbs pulled up in his car, Benton testified. Nick Tubbs then asked if Riggins and Benton "liked carts" or THC vape cartridges, and offered a deal for the marijuana and cartridges. Tyler Tubbs passed two cartridges to his brother through a small slit in the back passenger window, but Benton testified Riggins wasn't interested. That's when Nick Tubbs saw what Benton said was $900 in cash he had sitting in the open in the center console. "'Got all that money right there and only trying to buy a f***in quarter (-ounce of marijuana)?'" Nick Tubbs said, according to Benton. Benton said he was "thrown off" by what Tubbs said. "That wasn't Mike's money, that was my money," Benton testified. Nick Tubbs stuffed the baggies of marijuana into his pockets and pulled out his phone. When Benton asked him to get out of the car, Nick Tubbs replied "Yeah, yeah, hold on," according to Benton. Things happened fast after that, Benton testified. Nick Tubbs got out of the back seat, stood between the open car door and the door frame, reached into his right pants pocket, pulled a "red object," unfolded a blade from it and tried to stab Riggins, who was in the front passenger seat, Benton said. Nick Tubbs' left arm went around Riggins' left shoulder and neck and his right hand with the knife in it went toward Riggins' head and neck, he testified. Benton testified he thought Nick Tubbs connected at least once, and that a knife to the head or neck could kill someone. "I thought Mike was gonna get hurt real bad," Benton testified. He said he pulled his gun and "shot low" at Nick Tubbs, firing once. "That's all you need to get someone away from somebody," he testified. Nick Tubbs fell out of the car, and Benton sped off. He testified he drove to Oberlin, parked near Oberlin College and told Riggins to call someone else for a ride back home to Elyria. Benton didn't stay at the scene "because I was scared," he testified. He kept the gun and casing "because I felt like I needed to." He didn't call police because "I don't think the police would've believed me ... because of the circumstances. I'm Black." Benton testified he wasn't glad he shot Nick Tubbs. He said he regretted doing it and also regretted buying a gun in the first place. Still, "I don't know what would've happened (to Riggins) if I didn't have it." "But I do regret it because Nick would've been here still," Benton testified, adding that he has no animosity or ill will toward Nick Tubbs, Tyler Tubbs or members of the Tubbs family — a large number of whom have attended every day of the trial and sat silently listening as Benton testified in court. Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Pierre cross-examined Benton after the jury returned from lunch Thursday. Benton admitted on the stand he never reported the alleged carjacking attempt in Houston because, he said, "I don't really trust police." He admitted he bought the Stoeger 9mm handgun illegally because he was under the age of 21 and couldn't buy it legally. Elyria police recovered the gun after the shooting and scientific testing linked it to the bullet recovered from Nick Tubbs' body at autopsy. Neither Benton nor Riggins ever got out of the Honda while they were parked at Walmart. Benton said they chose to park in a far corner of the parking lot so people wouldn't notice they were smoking marijuana. Benton testified he didn't wait at the scene for Elyria police or contact them after the shooting but said he wasn't trying to hide his gun or the spent shell casing from them when he put the items in his bedroom closet. "I wasn't worried about the police finding the casing," he testified. "I didn't hide it ... I was trying to get it out of the car. I just wanted to get it out of the car." The gun was "for protection, period," testified Benton, who also admitted that a gun can escalate a situation. Benton also denied ever selling marijuana or knowing that a drug deal was the reason for the trip to Walmart. Benton told no one what happened at Walmart after he got home and also admitted he played dumb when Elyria police questioned him after his arrest. Pierre also played for the jury several jail calls on which Benton could be heard telling friends they had to be sure Riggins didn't talk to the cops. Benton told one friend to make sure Riggins "ain't out there eating cheese" — suggesting he might be "a rat" or might be "ratting" on Benton to police. "As long as he (Riggins) cool, we good. Just get him hip, alright?" Benton said in another call. Benton denied that what he said in one call — "I definitely ain't trippin' about the white boy." — was a referencing to Nick Tubbs, Tyler Tubbs or a third white man who allegedly vouched for Benton and Riggins to Nick Tubbs prior to the deal. Benton also told Pierre he didn't feel responsible for creating the circumstances that led to Nick Tubbs' death. The trial continues today in Judge Melissa Kobasher's courtroom. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.