Elyria detective says video shows Henry Spooner shooting, killing Jordan Flanigan point-blank

ELYRIA — Surveillance video taken Oct. 27, 2022, by multiple cameras at the Midview Crossing apartments on Middle Avenue in Elyria clearly shows defendant Henry Spooner walk up to and kill Jordan Flanigan with a gunshot to the face, a police detective testified Thursday. Veteran Elyria police Detective James Homoki testified on the third day of Spooner's murder trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Giovanna Bremke's courtroom. Spooner, 23, has pleaded not guilty to murder, felonious assault, having weapons under disability, tampering with evidence and improper handling of firearms in a motor vehicle charges in the death of Flanigan, 24. Spooner is claiming he acted in self-defense. Flanigan died from a single gunshot wound to the face, according to the Lorain County Coroner's Office. Homoki testified that for his part in the investigation, he conducted interviews, extracted digital evidence from cellphones and reviewed forensic and video evidence. Central to the state's case is the Midview Crossing security video, which Homoki testified showed Spooner and Flanigan exiting Building H at 1864 Middle Ave. and having a brief confrontation before Spooner shot Flanigan. For more than an hour Thursday, Homoki and Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Matt Kern went through the video frame-by-frame for the jury. There was no audio to go with the video, which police and prosecutors said showed Spooner shooting Flanigan from less than 2 feet away. A gun battle then broke out, and Spooner was shot in the face and abdomen by a 15-year-old friend of Flanigan. The Prosecutor's Office said that the youth acted in self-defense, though he later was convicted of delinquency by carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor, in Juvenile Court. As the wounded Spooner ran bleeding to a waiting SUV, Antwon President Jr. picked up Flanigan's dropped gun and shot at Spooner but missed. President later pleaded guilty to having weapons under disability, tampering with evidence and aggravated assault, all felonies, last year and is serving 4½ years in prison. Spooner's defense is that he shot Flanigan in self-defense. The prosecution has told the jury the shooting was the end result of a monthslong feud between Spooner, his friends and Flanigan that might have started over a woman. Homoki testified to finding videos in Spooner's social media accounts of Spooner and four other men driving around Elyria in the hours before Flanigan's killing, drinking alcohol and singing violent rap songs — "We them real killas" they rapped at one point, Homoki testified. Homoki also read notes he found in Spooner's electronic data in which Spooner talked about carrying guns and feuding with rivals. "If a (expletive) beef with me then I guess he deserved (it)" one note read. Another talked about "30 in a stick," a possible reference to a 30-round extended magazine like the one police found in the gun Spooner used to shoot Flanigan. Homoki also testified that on Oct. 8, 2022, Spooner sent Flanigan a message on Facebook that read: "Stay on your Ps kid because when I see yu yu finished." Defense attorneys R.J. Budway and Jason Harless objected, questioning how the rap lyrics were relevant to the prosecution's case and whether the message allegedly sent by Spooner was meant for Flanigan. Spooner was dropped off at the emergency room at University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center by his friends with a gunshot wound to the jaw and abdomen. Defense attorneys said in court this week that Spooner died during medical treatment, but UH Elyria emergency physician Dr. Leonard Keller testified that didn't happen at UH. A LifeFlight helicopter later flew Spooner to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland for further treatment. Budway and Harless also objected to testimony Homoki gave about the possible effects alcohol had on Spooner that day. Spooner was legally intoxicated with a 0.121 percent blood-alcohol content when admitted to the hospital, Keller testified. Homoki testified that the gun used to shoot Spooner never was recovered. The youth who shot him was subpoenaed to testify but has yet to show up in court. Police found Spooner's gun discarded on a lawn in the 1500 block of Middle Avenue. His friend Harold Willis admitted throwing it there while fleeing the shooting. Harold Willis was convicted of several felonies related to the aftermath of the shooting and placed on three years on community control in March. His attorney said Harold Willis would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and not testify in court. Harold Willis' cousin Demetrius Willis pleaded guilty to fleeing police and other felonies related to the aftermath of the shooting in March. He also got three years on community control. One of the 14 jurors hearing the case was released from jury duty Thursday due to illness. Testimony resumes this afternoon with defense attorneys cross-examining Homoki. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.